


Dearly Beloved, we kind of lied

by vettelian19



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Immigration issues, M/M, Slow Burn, Tyler is Greek (the Greek God of my heart), but like... with a twist?, don't take this as actual advice on how to become a Canadian citizen, i wish i knew, i'm handwaving all legal things here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:27:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 61,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23186254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vettelian19/pseuds/vettelian19
Summary: It’s not that Tyler doesn’t love Jordie, or that Jordie doesn’t love Tyler. But they’re definitely not in love – and well, this ‘being in love’ thing appears to be a quite vital prerequisite for a successful marriage.Maybe they should have thought of that before they started walking down the aisle. Just maybe.
Relationships: Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin, Jordie Benn & Tyler Seguin
Comments: 113
Kudos: 157





	1. Chapter 1

**JORDIE**

Jordie doesn’t want to point fingers but the whole situation is very clearly Tyler’s fault.

He himself may have had a small role to play in it. The tiniest bit, perhaps – he’ll admit that. But it is at least 80% Tyler’s fault, and thus, not Jordie’s problem. He does not have to solve this. He will not solve this. 

It’s not on him, okay? That fucker can get himself out of this on his own if he’s that fucking talented. Jamie can go help him for all he cares, but not Jordie – this is a Jordie-free situation from now on.

He almost convinces himself that he’s right. He opens the door, puts his keys down, presses a kiss on top of Marshall’s head as he happily waggles his tail, and ignores Tyler’s messages. Not his problem, the voice in his head repeats, not his problem that Tyler is an idiot. He’s not taking part in this anymore. This is not what he signed up for.

He only realizes that he’s playing with his ring when a small streak of sunshine glints off the simple gold band, shining straight into his eyes. It’s so bright, it makes him see little black dots for a couple seconds, and they remain in his periphery stubbornly even when he tries to blink them away. The stupid ring was Tyler’s choice, too, because of course, it was. He wanted something simple. He said he didn’t believe that a ring had to show off because the world didn’t need to know about their love – their love without conditions. If they knew about it, if they were certain of it, then that was all that mattered.

Which was the biggest piece of hypocrisy Jordie has ever heard. The world not knowing about their love? Really, Tyler? Also, love without conditions, what sort of fairytale is Tyler living in?

Even then, Jordie just laughed at him and asked why it mattered to Tyler when it was all fake anyway. 

Tyler laughed, too, and then he said it was about the principle. That just because it was a fake wedding he wasn’t going to wear a ring he didn’t actually want to be wearing. Tyler said it all like it mattered to him – like it mattered to him that they were doing this whole circus the right way.

Jordie is not in love with that idiot. And he knows Tyler is definitely not in love with him.

But that was never really the point of this agreement, was it?

“For fuck’s sake,” he murmurs and turns the coffee maker off before his coffee could be even slightly close to done. He presses a kiss to Marshall’s head again who napped through Jordie’s life-changing revelations, grabs the keys he has just deposited in front of the mirror, and he’s out the door in three seconds.

They’re not in love, and it is still Tyler’s fault.

Regardless, Jordie does love him. Not the sort of love they originally agreed on (or not agreed on… it’s complicated, okay?) – but a love without conditions nonetheless.

*

_4 months earlier_

**TYLER**

The first time Tyler meets Jordie is not actually the first time they meet.

At least, according to Jordie.

“Dude, we talked like two weeks ago,” Jordie says as he tries to balance the sandwich and the soda he just purchased in his right hand, while also trying to put away his change with his left. He struggles for a couple seconds, and Tyler watches, but then he finally reaches out to steady the sandwich in the crook of Jordie’s elbow. 

Look at the customer service Tyler is providing here, Rick, you should give him a raise or something.

“Thanks,” Jordie says when his change is finally in his suit pants’ pocket. He’s wearing a crisp white shirt and slacks that are extremely well-tailored with brown, shiny leather shoes, and while his beard is a little unkempt, he still seems to have an air of importance and money surrounding him.

“No problem. But really, dude, I’m telling you, we have never met. I would remember you,” Tyler says again, but Jordie just shakes his head.

“No, we did. We had a whole conversation. I’m Jordie, remember?” he says again, and Tyler just laughs.

“Okay, then what did we have a conversation about? Please enlighten me.”

Jordie seems to be thinking hard about that, and Tyler lifts an eyebrow. “I’m sure it was a fascinating conversation if you don’t even remember what it was about.”

“No, no…” Jordie says, and Tyler can’t help but find his determination to remember their talk a little endearing. Jordie is not his type (even though, he admits that Jordie is, objectively speaking, a hot guy), but he is such a cheerful person, Tyler has trouble thinking that anyone could find him anything less than endearing.

“Hockey,” Jordie says finally, vindication written on his face. 

“Hockey,” Tyler repeats, and now he’s the one who’s deep in his thoughts.

He’s going to be honest here, he doesn’t actually know whether Jordie and he have met or not – he was just enjoying riling Jordie up by saying that they haven’t. But now that Jordie mentioned hockey, a very, very distant memory of discussing the Dallas Stars’ current roster with someone seems to be uncovering in front of his inner eyes.

“You said that the Stars have absolutely no chance of being any better this year because all they have is a semi-competent goalie and, like, two usable defensemen. And then I told you that you’re probably just some bandwagoner to the sport of hockey because anyone, who doesn’t appreciate the fact that the Stars finally have a semi-competent goalie, is a fuckwit.”

Tyler bursts out laughing.

“Okay, yeah, no, that was for sure John, he’s a hockey snob. I would remember being called a fuckwit by a hot guy, especially if it was over my trusted hockey opinion,” he says, and he finds the whole situation so incredibly hilarious, that for a couple seconds, he doesn’t even realize that Jordie is not smiling at him anymore.

“You okay, man?” Tyler asks, not realizing at first what went wrong.

And now, Jordie is, very visibly, avoiding looking at him. “Uhm, I gotta go now,” murmurs, and then he pats down his pockets to check if he has everything. “Thanks for the food, man.”

“No problem?” Tyler says and when Jordie leaves with a little wave of his hand, he can’t help but keep staring at his retreating form, disappearing down the street.

That was weird.

“Tyler, stop hitting on the customers,” says Rick suddenly, and Tyler jumps a little upon hearing his voice. When did he come in?

“I… what?” he asks, and he’s not trying to play dumb here, but… he thinks he would have noticed if he was hitting on a customer. He’s good like that.

“Don’t, okay? Some people are still not okay with that,” Brandy says as he slowly refills the chewing gums from the box he brought out from the back.

“You mean, people who are not okay with gay people? We had Pride like literally a week ago,” Tyler says.

“Doesn’t mean everyone is okay with it, you know that. I don’t know where you’re from and I don’t want to know, but you’re in Dallas now, so… just don’t hit on the customers, okay?”

For the first time since he stepped out of the airport, straight into the Dallas heatwave, he feels a cold chill settle over his back.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Won’t happen again,” he says with a little fake smile, and Rick slaps him on his shoulder.

“I don’t mind it, you know that. Live and let live. It’s just a heads up.”

A heads up. A little reality check. Tyler knew what he was getting into when he got here. He knew what the world was like – he was always painfully aware of that.

Maybe he just expected it to be a little better in the States. That he would get a clean slate, and finally a little bit of a head start. After all he had to go through, he hoped for that at least.

It’s not the world’s fault that it’s not living up to his ideals.

Still, when he goes home that night, to the apartment that he needs to share with seven other young guys and girls, all of them undocumented and trying to get by just like Tyler is, a silent agreement between them all to not get involved in each other’s lives for the sake of everyone there, he can’t get one thought out of his head: _you came here to be yourself_.

So much for the American dream.

*

The second time Tyler and Jordie meet is actually the second time they meet.

Okay, Tyler still doesn’t know whether they have met before their first meeting or not. He still maintains that he’d remember – he’d remember the beard and that smile, but there are so many people coming into the convenience store that Rick set up in downtown Dallas that Tyler also knows that there’s zero chance of him remembering every single customer.

“Hey man,” Tyler says when Jordie walks up to the counter during lunchtime with, once again, a turkey sandwich and a bottle of ginger ale. “Is that all?”

“Yeah,” Jordie says and pulls his wallet out of his pocket. “I mean… I’d like an apology, too.”

Tyler’s hand stops mid-air, just hovering above the register. He has already put the sandwich in but suddenly he seems to forget all about the ginger ale, its price or even just the fact that it is also on the counter – forgets about everything but Jordie’s words.

“An… apology? From me?”

“Oh, no, I mean. An apology to you. From me,” Jordie says, and now Tyler is really confused.

“For?”

“I’m not homophobic,” Jordie says, and ah, okay, now Tyler remembers. He doesn’t remember every customer, but he definitely remembers that conversation. And Rick’s words. And his consequent existential crisis. 

Those are kind of hard to forget.

“It’s all good. I shouldn’t have said that,” he shrugs his shoulder.

“No, I was rude. I know Dallas has come a long way, but I know it’s still not easy for you guys, and I didn’t want to add to the list of shitty things people probably say to you. I also shouldn’t have thought that you would, you know, hit on me. That was kind of narcissistic of me,” he says, eyes big and earnest and, dammit, endearing again. Tyler needs to expand his vocabulary because he feels like he’s overusing some of his words. Jordie is huge, and muscular, and built like a fucking lumberjack, so Tyler finds it impossible to believe that endearing is really the only fucking word he can think of to describe him.

“Thanks, dude, I appreciate it. And you’re still hot, so like be proud of that or whatever,” Tyler says with a smile and he goes back to the register, because what else would they need to say, the conversation clearly over and done with, but Jordie speaks up again before Tyler could finish putting in the numbers.

“But I really am not homophobic. Like, I think my brother is gay, too – at least I think so, I don’t actually know. But still, it would be really shitty of me to be like a bully to someone else because of that,” Jordie says, his words a little too forceful, like he really wants Tyler to believe him.

“Dude, dude… I told you it’s okay, we’re good. You weren’t a bully, come on. I know you didn’t mean anything bad, and I definitely shouldn’t have said what I said either. You’re good,” Tyler adds for good measure because Jordie still looks like he needs to hear it.

“Oh. Okay then,” he says with finally a smile on his face, and Tyler snorts.

“So, Jordie…” starts Tyler as he puts the receipt and the change on the counter next to the sandwich, and he’s happy he’s good with names because Jordie seems to perk up like a puppy after hearing his name. This time he also doesn’t try to juggle and hold everything at once, and Tyler is almost proud of him. “Is your brother hot?”

And Tyler is happy that Rick is not here to witness this because Tyler knows he wouldn’t approve, but Jordie starts laughing, so he thinks he’s allowed to say it.

“He’s alright. Though, he’s so far in the closet, you probably wouldn’t like that,” Jordie shrugs and his cheerful smile and the remains of his previous laugh is still there, hanging between them, but Tyler sees that, for a second, something dark crosses over Jordie’s face. It’s gone in a wink of an eye, though, and before Tyler could think about it, Jordie starts talking again.

“So dude, now that I am all forgiven and shit, I did actually want to ask you something. Do you want to come out tonight to watch the Stars game with me and my buddies? They’re cool, but they know absolutely jackshit about hockey and I am suffering. You seem like you know at least two things about it.”

Tyler wants to say, ‘sure, why not, sounds like fun’. He wants to play it cool, because this shouldn’t be a big deal. Jordie surely didn’t say it like it was a big deal to him.

But this is the first time Tyler has been invited out to do anything since he got to Dallas and he almost can’t stop the happiness from bubbling up his throat.

“How do you not have friends who like hockey if you’re that big of a fan?” he asks instead of shouting ‘hell yes, please be my friend, I am so lonely’. He thinks he manages to play it cool.

“I moved down to Dallas from Vancouver a year ago and believe it or not, Texas is still not as sold on hockey as dear old Canada is. Where are you from, by the way? You don’t sound very Southern either,” Jordie says.

Tyler does not flinch. He’s so good at this. “Europe,” he says easily, and keeps smiling the same smile he had on before the question.

“Cool,” says Jordie and he doesn’t seem to notice that something is off with Tyler. Tyler likes it when people are just a tad bit clueless. “So you’re down for tonight, right?”

“Sure,” Tyler says finally, because he’s been down for it since Jordie first asked, and Jordie grins at him. “No homo, though, right?” Tyler adds because he can’t help being a little shit sometimes.

Jordie rolls his eyes. “You’re never going to let me live that down, right?”

“Man, did you really think I was hitting on you?” 

“I mean… I wouldn’t fault you for it. I am so irresistible,” Jordies smirks and Tyler can’t help but laugh again.

“Oh sure, I can barely control myself here,” he says at the end.

And they laugh and they exchange numbers and they go out that evening and they have fun.

And Tyler desperately wants the story to end here, desperately wants to say: well, you see, ladies and gentlemen, this is how Jordie Benn and Tyler Seguin have become best friends and lived happily ever after in beautiful Dallas, Texas in matching houses with white picket fences and loving families and boring ass lives. 

This is the story of how they became best friends – that’s true at least.

Their life was never really boring after they met, though. Or maybe it was boring for the first two months while Tyler continued working for the convenience store and Jordie did the same for the hotshot financial advisor company that he despised from the bottom of his heart. They simply lived the lives of two guys who were trying to figure out life now that they were finally on their own, always talking about life and bad jobs and great hockey games over shitty bar food and even shittier beer.

Those two months were good. They were nice. Nice and easy and comfortable and boring.

It’s kind of a shame they had to ruin that by getting married. But really, they can only blame themselves for that, too.

*


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first sign that something is about to go very, very wrong comes on a Tuesday morning in late May.

**TYLER**

The first sign that something is about to go very, _very_ wrong comes on a Tuesday morning in late May. It is a subtle sign, something Tyler wouldn’t even have noticed if it wasn’t pointed out to him.

He’s eating breakfast in their little community kitchen at the flat, just some reheated oatmeal he made too much of yesterday with a couple mushed berries thrown on top. It tastes a little too sweet and a little too sour at the same time, but Tyler has literally nothing else in his compartment in the fridge, so he keeps on eating.

“Have you seen Rita lately?” Alex asks. Tyler doesn’t know where he’s from originally, but he sounds Russian (and looks Russian too if Tyler is being really stereotypical here. He’s big and muscular and a little scary looking and Tyler should know better than to call everyone with a slightly Slavic accent Russian but he thinks he’s actually right in this instance.)

Tyler shakes his head. “No? But I barely ever see her. I think we work completely different shifts.”

Alex hums and takes another sip from his coffee. He unlocks his phone, answers a couple messages and when he’s done with that, he looks back up at Tyler. “I think she’s left.”

“Left? As in, left for good?” Tyler asks. That means they’re down one person for rent. That fucker could have at least warned them.

“Think so. She didn’t say. I don’t like it,” Alex adds, and _oh_. Tyler does not like the sound of that.

“You think she got caught up in something?” he asks, and he doesn’t need Alex to open his mouth because the answer is clearly written on his face.

“You might not want to hang out here a lot anymore,” Alex says at the end, and it’s not an answer but it also kind of is one.

Tyler’s oatmeal suddenly seems very sour in his mouth. Those damn berries.

*

The second sign comes literally two hours later and it’s not subtle at all.

“Trump’s doing more raids, kid,” is the first thing the leaves Rick’s mouth when he goes in to work and Tyler winces. “Just be careful, ‘kay?”

Rick is a good guy; Tyler has known that from the second he started here. He wouldn’t have offered Tyler the job if he wasn’t and Tyler appreciates it, he really does. He also knows that the moment an ICE team hits the store Rick is going to be washing his hands and pretend he has never in his life met Tyler. 

Tyler is not blaming him. We all got to live and survive somehow. Some were just born with that head start that Tyler seems to have missed out on.

*

It’s still good after that for about a week or so. Tyler goes to work, hangs out with Jordie and a couple of his (their?) buddies, watches some hockey games and goes to a dog park to torture himself by looking at other people’s dogs. A bunch of people there let him pet their puppies, at least, and he’s honestly the happiest in those moments – the happiest he’s been in years, no matter how depressing the sound of that is.

Then it’s not good. Like, really not good.

Because the third sign comes on the last day of May – and it is blindingly obvious.

Tyler is just about to round the corner on their street to get to their place after a long day of work (he had to cover an extra two hours in the store because Rick had to go to his daughter’s recital, and in hindsight, thank the lord for Rick’s daughter and her recital, really) when he spots it.

The van looks like all the vans he was told to avoid like the plague (told by Rick, told by Alex, told by literally everyone who knew his situation) but Tyler has never actually seen it in real life, so the moment he sees it parked in front of their building, he freezes to the sidewalk, unable to move, unable to divert his eyes.

Then he sees the men, all of them in uniform, all their jackets broadcasting the word ICE to the world – broadcasting it to Tyler who’s still looking at them from the corner. He sees two of the girls that came to stay at their place just last week, and one of the guys, Gabe, who Tyler literally hung out two days prior to this. His stomach clenches as he remembers Gabe’s words about his new girlfriend and his job – he was so damn cheerful and now, he’s standing next to an ICE agent and Tyler swears he can see all the blood and life drain from his face in two seconds.

Tyler can hardly breathe. Tyler is going to have a panic attack if he doesn’t move, if he doesn’t do something. _Shit._

He doesn’t know how much time passes, he doesn’t know how long he keeps staring at the scene unfolding in front of him, but the next thing he realizes is that he’s back at the dog park he sometimes comes to and he’s trying desperately to regulate his breathing.

A woman walking her Corgi shoots a couple of worried looks his way but he doesn’t see her because his head is between his knees and he’s praying to all the Gods he stopped believing in when he was 12 to stop it, to stop it, to stop it, please.

He’s praying to them asking for help but no one answers.

Well, no one answers until Jordie does.

Tyler doesn’t even remember taking his phone out but he must have done it at some point because now the screen says that he made a call to Jordie 20 minutes ago that lasted 1 minute and 13 seconds and was followed up by a text from him.

It contains an address and nothing more.

*

Jordie’s place is way fancier then anything Tyler has ever seen and it’s so surprising that for a minute at least, Tyler can even forget the reason he ended up here. It all comes back crushing after that minute is up, but it was good while it lasted.

The building is discreetly elegant – one of those buildings in uptown Dallas that were built only a couple years ago and offer luxurious apartments to those people who have the money to afford it but doesn’t necessarily want to flaunt it in people’s faces. Tyler guesses it’s for the millionaires who doesn’t want people to know they’re rich because then they would have to do some philanthropic work or some shit - and how _outrageous_ would that be.

Tyler might be a little prejudiced. He knows there’s no point in fighting prejudice with prejudice but he doesn’t really see what else is in his arsenal. The 35 bucks he currently has in his pocket doesn’t seem to offer a lot of other possibilities.

Jordie texted him the code to get in, so after a minute of staring at the building in a mixture of awe and bitter disgust, he punches it in and when the door opens, he heads straight to the elevator. He doesn’t need to spend more time drooling over the fucking lobby in his state; he’s going to end up hating Jordie if he does that.

When he finally spots Jordie, though, he doesn’t even know how he could have thought that hating him was an actual possibility, because the moment he sees his worried face and his ridiculous beard, he feels that he’s finally able to take the first real breath since spotting the van.

“Dude, what the fuck happened? You were barely making any sense on the phone,” Jordie says, and gathers him up in a bone-cracking hug that Tyler takes happily. Being held by someone he trusts is a rarity he learnt to appreciate over the years and he doesn’t care what it says about him.

Jordie’s place is exactly how Tyler pictured it from the outside – huge-ass windows, beautiful countertops and an interior design that required absolutely zero input from Jordie. He does spot one old typewriter that’s just a little out of touch with the rest of the place and he almost asks about it, almost asks about the stack of papers next to it on the little table but Jordie is still looking at him with this worried expression as he hands over a beer, and oh, yeah, Tyler is here for a reason.

“I really don’t want to get you involved but I had no one else to call. I’m sorry,” Tyler says first, because he has to. He’s giving Jordie every chance he might need to get out of this because what Tyler is doing is already unfair, already selfish and a part of him still yearns to protect Jordie from this. (The other part, the stronger one, needs Jordie’s protection and no matter how hard Tyler tries to shush it, it always seems to win.)

“Dude, I told you, I’m here for you. We’ll get through this,” says Jordie immediately.

Tyler doesn’t dare to smile, doesn’t dare let himself feel anything. “There was a raid at my place. Immigration,” he says instead and he sees the moment Jordie gets the implication behind his words.

“You’re…” he starts but doesn’t finish his sentence. Tyler knows anyway.

“Undocumented, illegal, whatever you want to call it, yes.”

“But… how?”

Tyler lets out a little laugh and he can’t stop the bitterness from seeping in. “It’s a long story. I was here legally for a bit and then… I wasn’t. It doesn’t matter, okay? The only thing that matters is that I don’t want to go back and I can’t stay here and I… I just don’t know what to do, man. I really don’t.”

Jordie doesn’t say anything for a long while and Tyler tries to take small measured breaths to stop himself from spiraling out again. The beer honestly helps, too, and Tyler doesn’t want it to become the solution (just thinking about that makes him a little sick), but the alcohol mellows him out and makes everything a little less harsh around him.

“Okay, dude. We’ll… we’ll figure something out,” says Jordie finally. “My… grandparents have connections in places, I can try to ask them maybe. Or the family lawyers. I’m sure they could come up with something.”

Connections. Family lawyers. Tyler has so many questions.

“Dude, I… I can’t ask you to do that. This is not your mess,” Tyler says weakly at the end, and it kills him a little to say no, to try to stop Jordie but he knows he has to.

“Hey, buddy, no. I’m not leaving you in this alone. You’re not alone in this,” Jordie says, with added force in his voice. He looks so earnest, so optimistic that Tyler can’t help but start to believe him.

“Thanks, bud,” Tyler says and he clinks his bottle to Jordie’s.

They sit on the couch in silence for a bit, looking over the Dallas skyline as it slowly sinks into the shadow of sunset, and Tyler doesn’t know if it’s the beer, or Jordie’s reassuring words, or the silence of the apartment, but he starts to feel a bit calmer for the first time since seeing the raid.

This newfound Zen of Tyler’s is, naturally, broken in about twenty seconds by Jordie’s words.

**JORDIE**

Jordie has to tell Tyler, he knows he has to, but as far as timing goes, this is probably the shittiest option possible. God dammit.

He wanted to tell him over a nice dinner. Or at least after they both had a couple beers. Or after Tyler went to the dog park and is high on his stupid dog energy.

And the thing is, he already felt bad about sharing this with Tyler, because he knew he would take it badly. And this is not Jordie being narcissistic again, thinking he’s so damn important, but Tyler wears his heart on his sleeve and Jordie knows how close they got and… he knew it would hurt Tyler, okay? He was already sure of that.

But then Tyler showed up with all this terrible, horrible, no good thing that happened to him, and Jordie knows that he’s shaken up and he’s lost and he doesn’t know what to do and Jordie still knows that he has to tell him because if he doesn’t then it will just build up between them, and it will be even worse later and it will ruin everything. Everything already feels ruined, but this will make sure it really is unsalvageable.

“Hey, Tyler?” starts Jordie and he feels like those people who are about to break up with someone who already told them I love you – knowing full well that leading them on is bad but also that what they’re currently doing is essentially ripping their hearts out.

“Yeah?”

“I… quit my job today,” Jordie says quickly before he could stop himself.

Tyler looks back at him blankly. “For real?”

“For real,” Jordie nods and he waits for the impending realization on Tyler’s face.

But it doesn’t come. Tyler starts smiling at him. “Congrats, dude. I know you hated it.”

“But…” Jordie starts and Tyler probably finally spots something in his expression because now his smile falters.

“You’re not staying in Dallas, are you?” he asks before Jordie could say something.

He nods and for a second, Tyler doesn’t react. 

Then he just… sinks. Visibly sinks into the couch and Jordie was worried about hurting Tyler but now he feels like his own heart was ripped out from its place in his chest.

“But I’m staying until we figure something out, okay? I told you, I’m not leaving you alone in this.”

Tyler doesn’t say anything. He’s probably in like shock or something, so Jordie continues.

“Or you could even come with me to BC? We could figure something out there. I told you, the lawyers are really good, I’m sure they could…”

“I can’t leave the country, you know that. Once I leave, it’s for good, they’re not going to let me back in,” Tyler says. He doesn’t even sound hurt or sad, he’s just stating facts.

“Canada is a nice place,” Jordie starts but he stops when Tyler lets out another little bitter laugh.

“I don’t really feel like being an undocumented immigrant in two different countries. I’ll be kind of running out of option at this rate.”

And that’s true and there’s nothing else Jordie can think of, so he does the only thing he knows. He grabs Tyler’s face in his hands and turns it towards himself gently.

“Tyler, I’m not leaving you behind. We will figure something out,” he says.

Tyler’s eyes are blank and Jordie sees that he doesn’t believe him but it’s enough if Jordie does. He believes enough for the both of them.

*

Jordie can’t sleep that night, no matter what music he listens to, no matter how many sheep he counts. He used to suffer from insomnia when he was younger, remembers the countless nights he stayed up staring up his ceiling, willing the sleepless thoughts in his head to leave him alone, but he hasn’t felt like this in years so now he has no idea what to do to stop it. He checks on Tyler like the annoying big brother he is slowly becoming but Ty is quietly snoring away in Jordie’s guest room, huddled under his blanket, so Jordie slowly tiptoes back to his own room. Seeing Tyler there, sleeping, safe and sound, does relax him a little but he still can’t sleep.

He could do some research, though. Just a little preliminary exploration on their options, he thinks, as he types in ‘how to become a legal immigrant’ to Google and starts scrolling.

*

**TYLER**

For a second, Tyler thinks he is dreaming. It is a crashing sound first, then some cursing and then some excited whispering, and then he is being shaken, and yeah, Tyler is definitely not dreaming this.

“Tyler. Tyler! Wake up, dude, come on,” he hears Jordie say, and he opens his eyes with a grunt.

It is still completely dark outside, and when he looks at the little alarm clock on the nightstand he sees that it is barely past 4 am.

“What the fuck, Jordie?” he says as he scoots over to give Jordie a bit of space to sit down on the bed. “It’s like 4 am, why are you not sleeping?”

“Tyler. You got to listen to this,” he says, sounding still too excited for a conversation that is taking place at freaking 4 am.

“What, Jordie? Is everything okay?”

Jordie just smirks at him. “More than okay.”

“What do you mean ‘more than okay’? Jordie, come on, tell me what the fuck is going on,” Tyler says, getting impatient with Jordie’s silence and slightly manic smile.

Jordie takes a deep breath. “We’re going to get married.”

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear Jamie is going to show up at some point. I swear, guys. (On a completely unrelated note, I added Slow Burn to the tags.)
> 
> Comments are deeply, deeply appreciated you guys. Like, so appreciated that I usually feel the biggest surge of creativity and energy to actually put down my ass and write when I read new (and old) comments. (But like, no pressure! This social distancing thing is already making me write a lot more, anyway).
> 
> Take care, wash your hands and stay home. xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’re a match made in Hell.

**JORDIE**

It is decidedly a stupid idea and Jordie knows it. He understands Tyler – he gets where he’s coming from when he tells Jordie how stupid the idea is. He totally sees his point, too, when Tyler tells him how he would never say yes to this stupidity because Jordie, come the fuck on, you must be joking, you absolute buffoon.

Jordie understands that it is a stupid idea. It’s not a _bad_ idea, though, and this is the hill he’s willing to die on.

“Absolutely the fuck no,” Tyler repeats as he makes coffee for them in the morning. He’s filling up the Keurig with water in a very aggressive manner and Jordie hopes that they make those machines sturdy because he’ll cry if Tyler breaks it and deprives him of caffeine. 

It wasn’t even half six when they poured into the dimly lit kitchen but after Jordie’s middle-of-the-night idiotic idea spree, neither of them was able to go back to bed anymore. Sleep was out of the question for Jordie before that already, and now Tyler was also too riled up to try to fall asleep. 

“Give me one good reason why this would be such a bad idea,” says Jordie and he crooks an eyebrow, daring Tyler to come up with something.

Coming up with something doesn’t seem to be so hard, though, as Tyler starts to rattle off his list.

“One, we would be lying to the authorities who would throw me out for good if they found out, and I’m pretty sure you would get into trouble for this, too, for like falsified statements or like the obstruction of justice or whatever the fuck it actually is. Two, you are not even gay, Jordie, what the fuck, why would you want to marry me? Three, what would your family think? Four, what do you even get out of this?”

Okay, so Jordie knows these are valid points. He really does get them. But they’re not unsolvable, no matter how Tyler puts them – and yeah, Jordie is on the hill and he’s prepared to die, he really is.

“Yeah, but if we’re good about it, we can pretend we’re married for a bit, while you get settled and get your citizenship, and then if one of us meets someone, then we can quietly get a divorce and pretend like nothing happened. Do you know how many people have done this in the past?”

Tyler finally looks up at him as the coffee starts to fill one of the mugs in front of him. “No, how many?”

Okay, so it was a rhetorical question, Tyler, you don’t actually have to answer those.

“Okay, I don’t actually know, but I’m sure it’s a lot,” Jordie answers and Tyler just snorts. It’s a very annoying snort, why did Jordie even offer to marry this absolute jerk?

“Anyway,” continues Jordie. “We could easily do it. I can totally pretend to be in love. I’m a good actor. And we already know you think I’m hot, so really, I don’t see any problems here.”

Tyler snorts again as he puts the full mug in front of Jordie so he graciously decides not to slap him for that.

“And like, why does it matter if I’m not gay? I could be. I think everyone is a little gay inside. Like, I can see that you’re, like, hot. You have all those muscles and jawlines and all that.”

“Jordie, you are the straightest straight man I have ever met,” says Tyler like that even makes any sense, and Jordie rolls his eyes. Whatever, he knows he could be gay.

“Okay, and what about your family?” asks Tyler finally, as he climbs on the barstool on the opposite side of the kitchen island, and starts sipping his own coffee.

Well, Jordie at least actually has an answer for this. “My family is kind of the reason I want to do this.”

Tyler does not choke on his coffee, not really, but he does let out a little surprised cough. “I thought the reason you wanted to do this was to save me from the big bad wolf that is the US government?"

“I mean… that too?”

Tyler just keeps staring at him. “Okay, you’re going to think I’m an idiot,” says Jordie with a resigned sigh, and puts his mug down.

“I already think you’re an idiot, so feel free to continue.”

Jordie does not even dignify that statement with an answer. “Okay, so you know how my family is… kind of, like, a big deal?”

“I literally know nothing about your family, Jordan, you never talk about them,” Tyler says with an amused smile.

“Okay, that’s fair. You do need to know some things to understand this, though. So, super quick family history lesson: it all kind of started with my great-grandfather who had, like, a bunch of companies around BC back in the 1920s?” Jordie starts and now, Tyler is fully looking like someone who is about one second away from bursting out laughing.

“Do we really have to go back to the roaring 20s? Is this part super important?” he asks but Jordie ignores him with an eye roll. He’s telling a story here, Tyler.

“As much as I gathered from my grandpa, he dabbled a bit in fishing and natural gas and a bunch of other stuff – and also probably did a lot of liquor smuggling during the prohibition which is where, I think, he got really rich from. So he was able to get my grandpa a really good education and also a hell of a lot of capital, so when he grew up, he went on and did a bunch of even better investments and, well, as time passed he grew even bigger then my great-grandfather. So now... he’s basically one of the most important people in BC and owns quite a lot of real estate and things like that,” Jordie says, and he’s not trying to brag but he needs Tyler to actually understand this.

Tyler, at least, seems like someone who is finally starting to get what Jordie is telling him. His eyes are really big all of a sudden.

“So you’re like… really rich. Like millionaire level rich?”

Jordie feels a slight blush settle on his cheeks. “My grandpa, yeah. He is kind of a billionaire. I’m not, though.”

“You kind of are. Or you will be,” Tyler says, and he’s not asking Jordie. He’s just telling it as it is.

“Well… I wouldn’t be so sure about that. My grandpa and I… we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.”

And Jordie doesn’t know how much to say here, how much he should tell Tyler but if they really do go through with their plan, then Tyler should probably know more than what Jordie has told him so far.

“My grandpa is a dick, okay?” he blurts out at the end, and well, he guesses he’s telling Tyler basically everything now.

“Dick as in…” Tyler starts and Jordie continues his sentence with another sigh.

“Dick as in your usual racist, homophobic, millennial-hating old white man. But he has the money and it’s up to him who gets what after he dies – and while he lives, too – so the whole family tiptoes around him and doesn’t dare to call out anything he does or says because no one wants to miss out on the will. The whole thing makes me sick. This is why I left in the first place.”

“But you’re still living on his money,” says Tyler matter-of-factly. He’s not saying it accusingly, he really isn’t, but it still makes Jordie feel a little guilty. “I mean, I would probably do the same, so no judgment here.”

“I am, yeah. I want it to stop, though, and this is why I want to go back. I want to tell him I had enough and just, you know, tell him what I really think, once and for all. He always looked at me like I was the black sheep of the family – and I think I’m finally ready to act like one.”

“And how come you didn’t do that before?” Tyler asks.

And isn’t that the million-dollar question?

“I love my family. My brother and my sister are so amazing, even if they make me crawl up the wall at times, and that’s… I don’t know, I don’t want them to get hurt in the middle of all this. Jamie’s going to med school, and he’s so smart, but obviously it’s grandpa who’s paying for all this and my sister is working for a law firm where my grandpa is friends with all the partners and… everything is connected and intertwined, and I don’t want them to have to suffer because of me. But I can’t go on like this anymore. Every time I have to go home, I hate it, and even when I’m here, I hate my job, and… It just got too much,” Jordie says and even though he’s bitter and a little angry, finally telling all this to someone feels so incredibly freeing, he’s swimming in the emotions that come over him.

“But… now, wait a second,” says Tyler and he looks like he’s finally connecting the dots in his head. “Where do I come into the picture?”

“Well, you asked me what it is that I get out of this plan,” says Jordie carefully.

Tyler keeps staring at him with unbelieving eyes.

“Jordan… Are you trying to use this marriage as your revenge plan on your grandpa?” he asks finally. Jordie knew he was marrying a smart guy.

“What’s better than showing up to the family dinner with my new gay lover who also happens to be an immigrant?” says Jordie, and he hopes that he knows Tyler well enough by now that he’s not going to take this as a, like, a personal offense or something.

He doesn’t. He starts laughing.

“That is… actually quite genius. Jesus, Jordie, you’re evil,” he says after he stops laughing around his mug.

“So… are you in, Tyler? You’ll get a citizenship, I’ll get my revenge?” 

Tyler takes a deep breath before he answers. The sun is starting to come up behind Jordie and the first rays of sunshine hit Tyler’s hair in a mockery of a halo around his head. Neither of them are angels at this moment – they really are not.

“Do you really want to do this with me? Like, you’re not going to decide that you’re regretting this in like a week or so? Because if you ditch me in Canada after all this, I swear to God, I’ll…”

“You’ll?” asks Jordie with a little smirk.

“I’ll be proper mad at you, that’s what I’ll do.”

Jordie laughs. “That’s so scary, Ty.”

Tyler just smiles and takes another sip from his coffee. “I think it’s still a stupid idea.”

“Duly noted,” adds Jordie. “But it could be fun.”

Tyler hums and says nothing for a little while, and Jordie thinks he’s on board with the idea but he still needs Tyler to verbally, irrevocably confirm it.

“Call your parents that you’re bringing your fiancé home, Jordan. It’s only polite to warn them,” Tyler says finally, and when Jordie flashes a slightly evil smile at him, Tyler reflects it right back.

They’re a match made in Hell.

**TYLER**

So Tyler still maintains his opinion that this is probably the stupidest idea either of them has ever come up with.

Tyler also has like zero other viable options here, so he thinks he shouldn’t get so picky and choosey about this. He could do way worse for a husband than Jordie. Jordie is like top 3% husband material. If he was only gay and, like, someone Tyler could actually look at as a romantic partner, not just as a BFF/pseudo-brother, then that would be just perfect. But again, let’s not get fussy here – he’s still a great option. A great Canadian option.

And like Tyler also gets that Jordie is getting something out of this, but let’s be real here: it’s Tyler who’s benefitting more from this, and it’s not even a competition. So really, while he still thinks it’s a stupid idea, he also knows to keep his mouth shut after he agrees, because it is a stupid idea – but it’s still a genius one, too, and if Jordie really wants to do this, then who is Tyler to disagree with him? He thinks he’s done enough to make him see reason. If he’s not seeing it, Tyler can’t make him wear glasses or something – Jordie is his own person.

Once their evil plan is decided, it’s surprisingly simple to get things moving, and with the early start they got to their day, they are able to get so much done that by that afternoon, they’re basically ready to leave the country.

Tyler texted Alex to ask if it was safe to go back to the flat, and when he gets the green light from him, he and Jordie quickly go back and pack his stuff up. He barely has anything – he didn’t have a lot of time to really accumulate a lot of junk after all, so his bags are packed in less than 30 minutes and then they are out of there. Alex gives him a couple farewell backslaps and wishes him a good life while eyeing Jordie with suspicious eyes.

Their next stop is Rick, who looks like he expected Tyler and is also actually a bit relieved that Tyler is getting out of there. He gives him his last pay and also wishes him good luck and Tyler takes one last look at the place before they leave. He doesn’t have a lot of great memories connected to the place (it’s a freaking convenience store not a cathedral) but he got used to it, and the thought – that this is the last time he gets to see this – settles in the pit of his stomach like a too hard, too heavy stone.

The good thing about not getting your roots down in a place is that leaving is always easier. But still, on that last night, when he and Jordie go to their favorite bar for a final hockey game with the guys, he still feels a bit of a bittersweet sting as they walk through downtown. The city is bustling around them even though it’s a Wednesday night and it’s noisy, bright familiarity makes Tyler smile. Tyler has called a lot of places home in his life, but he didn’t expect Dallas to become one. He was barely here for a couple of months – somehow the city still managed to get more under his skin than he thought it would.

And it’s not like Vancouver doesn’t sound like a nice place to live in. Tyler likes the promise of the ocean and the colder weather, and Canada has always been a place he wanted to check out – he’s really not complaining. But he’s been leaving places behind ever since he can remember, and for once in his life, he’d just like to stay somewhere. 

Apparently, Dallas was not going to be that place either.

After the farewell bar night, where they tell the guys a made-up story about both of them getting jobs up in Vancouver and get a bunch of well-wishes and see you laters, they go back to Jordie’s place. The night is quiet and almost chilly after the heatwave they’ve had during the day, and without even really talking about it, both Tyler and Jordie gravitate towards the balcony as the dark settles around them.

So now, they’re sitting out here, not really talking, just looking over the Dallas skyline. They have so many things to discuss (they’re literally driving up tomorrow and Tyler still has no idea how they’re going to sell this to Jordie’s family and, like, the Canadian authorities) but they’re mostly silent.

At least, until Tyler remembers something.

“Jordie?” As he said, they have a lot to talk about, but there’s only one thing he really needs to hear from Jordie right now.

“Yeah?”

“Can you promise me one thing?” Tyler asks, and Jordie is finally turning his attention towards him.

“What?”

“Whatever happens, it’s going to be the two of us against the world. So can you promise me that you’re going to be honest with me? Always?”

Jordie looks a bit confused as he stares at Tyler but he nods. “Of course, Ty.”

“No. Like, always, Jordie. Even if you realize that you’re regretting this, or if anything happens that makes you… I don’t know what, angry or sad or anything. Just promise me this. That no matter what happens, we’re going to be honest with each other.”

Jordie looks at him and then he extends his pinky finger towards Tyler. For a second, Tyler doesn’t get what he’s trying to do, then he laughs and links their fingers together.

“I promise, Tyler. We’re going to be honest with each other.”

Tyler smiles at him. “I promise, too.”

In about two months, both of them will break this promise. Right now, though, neither of them knows this and looking at the city they both accidentally fell in love with, they feel invincible.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has officially turned into an ode to Jordie and Tyler's friendship, and I hope everyone is okay with that. 
> 
> Jamie may or may not show up in the next chapter, but buckle up, kids, because we have barely even started - and this is going to be a long ass journey.
> 
> Comments? Please? (I'm not saying I'm keeping Jamie hostage until I get more feedback because that would be rude. I'm also _not_ not saying it.)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Welcome to your new home,” Jordie says, and the smile he gets in return is blinding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood

**JORDIE**

It takes them three days to drive up to Vancouver. When Jordie’s mum asks him why they wouldn’t just take a flight instead (after getting over her initial shock of his son apparently getting engaged to a guy she’s never even heard about, which took her a good couple minutes, understandably), Jordie makes up some bullshit answer about Tyler being afraid of flights, and carefully does not mention the fact that Tyler was not so keen on going through airport-level security and border control, even when Jordie insisted that it would be fine to do so.

Like, Jordie told him that being deported as he was already leaving the country wouldn’t be that big of a deal but Tyler’s answering stare made him shut up and not bring up the issue again. Road trip it is, then.

And really, spending two and a half days locked together in Jordie’s SUV is actually kind of a blessing in disguise, no matter what either them thought going into the road trip (there was a lot of grumbling on Jordie’s part when he saw that it would take them 34 hours of driving to get back but he thinks it was justified. 34 hours is 34 hours, dammit, _especially_ with a 5 am wake up call. That’s just plain torture, Tyler). But this way they have all the time in the world to come up with a believable story for their engagement and to make sure that all the plot holes are covered.

“Honestly, I feel that we don’t even have to come up with a lot of extra details. Just like… make it a bit more couple-y,” says Tyler after they have turned on the interstate again. They stopped at a gas station to load up on snacks so he’s currently trying to decide between a bag of Sour Patch Kids and Pringles. 

“I want the Pringles, you’re eating the Sour Patch Kids. I don’t like the watermelon edition,” says Jordie when after a good half a minute, Tyler still haven’t managed to make a decision.

“You see, one more thing I know about you that I can mention to your parents: you don’t like watermelon.”

“What a pertinent piece of information, yeah,” Jordie says faux-seriously, and Tyler sighs next to him. 

“Why, what else would they be asking me about? Would they want to know the first time we banged or something?” Tyler says casually, and Jordie does not steer into the next lane but they might spend a couple seconds going in a not-so-straight line on the interstate.

“For fuck’s sake, Tyler, warn a guy before you say something like that. Also, why would my parents want to know about our non-existent sex life?”

Tyler snorts. “That was exactly my point. They wouldn’t want to know. This is why I need to learn the boring shit about you: exhibit A, your aversion to watermelons. That’s something your mother would expect your boyfriend to know. It’s couple-y, I told you.”

Okay, he does have a point there, but Jordie is not going to give him the satisfaction of telling him that.

“I don’t actually mind watermelon, though. I just don’t like the watermelon edition of the Sour Patch Kids.”

“Okay, now you’re just being a weirdo. Why wouldn’t you like it if you don’t hate watermelon, Jordie? It’s so stupid.”

This is going to be a long journey. A really long journey.

*

They stick to their plan and they spend the first night at a random motel in the middle of freaking Utah. Neither of them has been to Utah before but they don’t feel like they’re missing out on a lot, to be honest – it seems like all the state has is deserts, deserts and some more deserts. At least, the motel is on the cleaner side and both of them sleep hard, Jordie’s insomnia from the night before finally gone again.

The second day passes as well as any second day on the road would – the initial excitement already washed off but the road still seems endless in front of them, so they fill up the time with idle chatter, bad music, an elaborate engagement story and a hockey quiz that Jordie reads from his phone while Tyler drives.

The third morning seems a lot shorter, though, and they both get more and more irritated as they’re getting closer to the border.

“I could go and hide in the trunk. I still think it would be better,” says Tyler for the thousandth time and Jordie is contemplating just turning the radio up so loud, he couldn’t hear Tyler’s voice anymore.

It would probably be rude, but then, telling his future husband to shut the fuck up would be even more so. 

He does neither of them in the end, because Tyler continues talking. “Like, I trust you, and if you tell me it’s going to be okay, then…”

“Tyler, I told you it’s going to be okay. Try to relax, okay?”

“I’m sorry,” Tyler says, and now Jordie feels like a bitch because of his irritation. “I’m not trying to drive you crazy, it’s just… scary.”

And the thing is, Jordie knows it must be scary as hell, but he has absolutely no idea what it would feel like to be in Tyler’s position. He’s a rich white dude from Canada who has had everything handed to him on a silver plate all his life – he knows that, thank you very much. And while he doesn’t think he’s a bad person or anything, he’s still painfully aware of his privilege and how he’s never going to know what it’s like to not have that – he can’t really change that though, and he hopes that Tyler gets that, too.

“It’s going to be fine. You know you’re allowed to enter Canada; you have all the paperwork for that. And the Canadian agent will not care that you overstayed your US visa, so there’s literally almost nothing that could cause a problem for you. We’re good, remember that, okay?”

Tyler listens to his words carefully and then nods. In his defense, he actually seems like he’s trying to relax, and by the time they pull up to the border control booth, he seems way calmer. Jordie is like proud and shit.

In the end, it is not only fine – it’s a ridiculously friendly experience. The border agent is an older lady with a kind smile and grey hair and she seems delighted when she hears why they’re going to Canada.

“Oh, first time meeting the family?” she says. “You must be frightened, you poor child.”

Well. She does have a point there, Jordie thinks. Tyler was indeed frightened, just maybe not because of that exactly.

“He’s going to make them fall in love with him, the same way he made me fall in love with him,” Jordie says with a wide smile and he hopes Tyler is not going to do something stupid like burst out laughing at his words because he doesn’t want him to blow their cover and really, the lady’s words were just too perfect not to take advantage of. Jordie is acing this fiancé bullshit – he’s _acing_ it.

“I’m sure he will. Your mother will be very happy you found such a handsome man,” the lady adds as she hands their passports back and Jordie is sure that if Tyler was within her arm’s reach she would pinch his cheeks while doing so. “Anyway, have a great time in Canada!”

They say their goodbye, too, and then Jordie starts the car and he lasts exactly twenty seconds before he starts laughing.

“Oh dude, I missed this place,” he says and he takes a quick look at Tyler before turning his eyes back on the road.

“Jordie. Did the border agent lady literally call me handsome? Like, is that a thing border agents can do?” Tyler asks and he seems so shocked, Jordie can’t help but laugh at that again.

“Yeah, dude. I told you it would be all good,” he says and then from the corner of his eyes, he finally sees Tyler smile at him. He only looks away when they drive past one of the huge Canadian flags that are set up by the border, and he looks so awed that Jordie can feel another smile tug at his own face.

“Hey, Ty?”

Tyler looks at him with still wide eyes. 

“Welcome to your new home,” Jordie says in the end, and the smile he gets in return is blinding.

*

**TYLER**

Tyler expected Jordie’s place to be a huge castle or something based on his stories, so honestly, he’s a little disappointed when they pull up to an, arguably huge, but actually quite normal looking building in downtown Vancouver. It reminds Tyler of the building Jordie was living in in Dallas, so maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised – but like, Jordie was talking about billions, Tyler wants to _see_ them.

“Oh, you will see that, too,” says Jordie when Tyler gives voice to his disappointment. “This is the place I usually share with Jamie and Jenny when I’m in the city, so we’re going to put our stuff down here and then we’ll go to my grandparents’ place for compulsory Friday night dinner. They live in the mansion,” Jordie says casually, and Tyler starts laughing good-naturedly because Jordie is clearly joking.

Except he’s not, apparently.

“A mansion? An actual mansion?” Tyler gasps as they’re getting out of the car in the underground parking.

“It’s really pretty, you’re going to like it,” says Jordie like the prettiness of the building is the one thing that Tyler is hung upon here. Totally, Jordie, totally.

The building is way fancier on the inside, though, and the elevator is the most spacious thing Tyler has ever seen in his life, covered in a fancy brocade or whatnot, and for the first time, since they started this ridiculous journey Tyler is starting to feel a little out of place. He never grew up without money, not when he was living back home with his mom, or when he was living with his dad in Manchester, but this – this is a whole new level of money, and he doesn’t know how to feel about it. He is not entirely sure he likes it, to be honest – but maybe you just got to get used to living like this.

He doesn’t have a lot of time to decide, though, (and really, if he couldn’t make up his mind about it on a 34-hour car ride, then he’s not going to do that now) because the elevator door opens to the penthouse level of the building and Jordie is already getting out with one of his many bags thrown across his shoulder, so Tyler can do nothing but follow him. The elevator door opens to a corridor of some sorts but there’s actually only one door that it leads to – a beautiful mahogany double door that probably cost more to carve than everything Tyler owns put together.

Jordie punches in the code to open the door and Tyler is almost ready to move right behind him just so he wouldn’t have to stare at that stupidly expensive monstrosity, except the door remains locked after Jordie’s first try. 

It remains locked on the second and third try as well.

“Those absolute fuckers. I am going to murder them,” murmurs Jordie.

“Let me guess. Your dear siblings changed it and didn’t tell you?” Tyler smirks.

“Probably Jenny. Jamie is too nice to do that,” Jordie sighs, and drops his bag down in front of the door, and takes his phone out.

But then his phone calls also go unanswered, no matter how many times he tries to call either of his siblings, and Tyler would find the situation hilarious if they didn’t just spend two and a half days driving through the States. Right now, all he wants is a shower and maybe like a nice bowl of ramen, or something equally hot and tasty. Apparently, he doesn’t deserve any of these just yet.

“For fuck’s sake. I’m telling you, I’m murdering them,” Jordie says again and looks around the corridor like they could maybe get into the penthouse through another way. But there’s nothing to see and nowhere to go, so Jordie gives up quickly, accompanied by the angriest sigh Tyler has ever heard.

“I don’t really see how that helps us now, Jordan,” says Tyler and he doesn’t mean to sound so whiny but again, shower and food, those are the only things he can think of right now. Not being whiny is out of the question.

“I’m going down to reception. They have to know the code or let us in somehow,” says Jordie finally and kicks his bag to the corner so it wouldn’t be in their way anymore. “Stay here.”

Tyler gives him a little mock salute but he’s actually really grateful he doesn’t have to help sort this thing out, so when Jordie disappears in the elevator again, he simply sits down by the door and makes himself comfortable. Within like a minute, he’s half-lying under one of those elaborately crafted steel flower bowls and it honestly looks more and more fascinating as he keeps looking at it from below. Like he can see the roots hidden away in the little holes and everything. How do they even water these? Or wait, are these fake plants? Was Tyler’s whole life a lie?

Tyler has a lot of questions. (It’s also quite possible that Tyler is a little tired.)

Except that lying under a heavy steel flower bowl turns out to be a ridiculously bad idea in less than ten minutes (who would have thought, really, Tyler) because the next thing Tyler hears is a shout that scares the living daylights out of him.

“Jesus Christ, what the hell are you doing there?” 

And well, Tyler would answer him, whoever the man is that just stepped out of the elevator without making any sort of noise whatsoever to, like, warn Tyler that he’s sneaking up on him, he really would answer him, but in his frightened state, he bangs his head right into the stupid steel flower bowl and shit, that’s blood on his face and on his hand and…

“Oh my god, stay put, don’t move,” the unknown man tells Tyler and Tyler complies – not just because the mysterious man has a very nice sounding voice but because he wouldn’t have dared moving in the first place. There’s just so much blood on his hands and he can’t seem to look away.

Tyler takes the first good look at the man when he kneels right beside him and starts rummaging around his bag. He looks painfully familiar but he can’t place him in his hazy mind at all – he looks like a picture he’s seen somewhere years ago and now the name of the place is on the tip of his tongue but still just out of his reach.

“Stay put, you’re going to be okay. Head injuries are always bloodier than they should be, okay?” Mystery Man’s voice is still incredibly nice, if Tyler is allowed to point it out while he’s bleeding to his death – a deep velvety syrup that feels like some sort of calming ointment on Tyler’s nerves. He’s pressing down some tissues on Tyler’s injury and Tyler wants to say something, to give some sort of acknowledgement that he has heard him but he feels too paralyzed to even make his lips move.

“It’s not a deep cut at all, okay? Can you try to get up for me? I live right here, I can clean this out for you,” says the Beautiful Voice again.

But if he lives here, Tyler starts to think.

He can’t finish his thought, though, because then Mystery Man removes the tissues from his face and they’re covered in deep red blood and the smell hits Tyler and…

He finally faints right there and then into the waiting arms of Jamie Benn.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you Jamie would show up. Also, the rhyme in that last line, my dudes. Not to brag or anything but I totally wrote that on accident and when I read it out loud, I started cackling so loud, I almost scared myself.
> 
> I also know that my white privilege is showing here but, like, whenever I went to the States or dear ol' Canada, I always got the funniest and nicest border agents for some unknown reason... Like, there was _singing_ involved at some point, actual singing.
> 
> Comments? Love? Validation? Puppy eyes?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh. Of course, _Jamie_. Jordie’s brother, Jamie.

**TYLER**

The first thing Tyler hears when he wakes up is furious whispering. It’s very close to his head and he almost reaches out to swat it away from his ear because it sounds more like a hive of angry bees flying around him then human voices.

Then he hears Jordie’s voice and he stays put, only fluttering his eyelids a little.

“Why did you try to murder my fiancé?” Jordie asks someone angrily, and Tyler needs a second to understand his words. Also, since when does Jordie have a fiancé?

Oh. Oh. Right. Now Tyler remembers, sorry – he will try not to forget about his engagement in the future.

But it appears that not everyone got the memo on their upcoming nuptials because a high-pitched female voice joins the conversation just then.

“Your fiancé? Since… what? When did you become the gay one?” she asks and there’s a loud clinking sound, too, like someone put a glass down with a bit too much force.

“Give me some whisky, too, and I’ll tell you,” Jordie sighs and Tyler hears him get up from wherever Tyler is laying down and walk away. “Jamie, don’t think we’re finished here. I still want to know why you tried to kill him,” he adds but his voice already seems to be coming from somewhere further away.

And really, Tyler actually wants to open his eyes right that second, because eavesdropping on their conversation like that seems to be a tad bit rude, but then someone places a large, cooling hand on his forehead and sweeps his curls away in the process and….

Tyler has no idea who’s doing that and maybe he should be scared because the only person he knows just walked away, but it feels so incredibly nice that Tyler can’t stop himself from curling into the touch. Which is exactly the moment Mystery Person snatches his hand away and oh, Tyler probably shouldn’t have done that, _shit_.

When he opens his eyes, he sees a lot of light, and in the middle of it all, there’s an angel sitting in front of him, hand frozen midair, with eyes so brown Tyler thinks he could get lost swimming in their reflection until the end of eternity.

“Oh,” he says, and his voice suddenly clicks things together in Tyler’s head. Mystery Man. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Is he awake, Chubbs?” Tyler hears suddenly, and then Jordie is next to him, too, pushing Mystery Man away a bit, and Tyler barely stops himself from growling at Jordie for getting between them. He blames it on the dull buzz that his head seems to be full of – he thinks he’s allowed.

“Hey, honey,” Jordie says. “You made quite the entrance chez Benn,” he snorts and he flicks Tyler on his shoulder.

“What happened?” Tyler asks as he tries to sit up. He’s not feeling sick or anything, just a little disoriented and his memories from the afternoon come back in bits and pieces as the buzz in his head seems to slowly retreat to the back of his skull only.

“I have no idea. All I know is that by the time I came back, you were passed out on the couch with a cut on your head and like blood everywhere and Jamie was playing Super Doctor to you.”

Oh. Of course, _Jamie_. Jordie’s brother, Jamie.

( _Fuck my life_ is also a thing Tyler thinks emphatically but he pushes that thought away for the time being.)

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I hit my head and I… I don’t like blood,” he says finally when everything finally assembles together in his head. This was definitely not the first impression he wanted to make on his in-laws but Tyler is not even that surprised. It’s very on brand for him.

“It’s okay, it happens to a lot of people,” Jamie chimes in from behind Jordie and if Tyler has to remind himself by loudly thinking ‘he’s Jordie’s fucking _brother_ , you moron’ every single time Jamie’s beautifully accented words leave his mouth, then he’ll do it. He’s not going down any other road here, nope.

“Still, I’m sorry, this is not how I wanted to meet you guys,” he says eventually, and now the third Benn sibling also joins them by leaning over the back of the couch with two glasses in her hands. She hands one of them to Jordie and takes a sip from the other.

“Oh, Jordie, he’s adorable,” Jenny says excitedly with a little cooing noise that Tyler feels is on the verge of being mocking.

“I know, right?” Jordie smirks and Tyler doesn’t think this is how couples act but Jenny seems to just take Jordie’s answer with a fond eye roll so maybe that’s how the Benns do romance. Tyler wouldn’t know.

“It’s still very nice to meet you. Tyler, right?” Jenny says. She is tall, almost as tall as her brothers are, and she’s wearing a grey pencil skirt with a baby blue blouse and she looks exactly how Tyler imagines an almost 30-something rich lawyer lady in Vancouver would look like. Her smile seems very nice, though, and she regards Tyler with a curious but kind look, so Tyler is going to stop being so judgmental in, like, two seconds max. “And where did Jordie find you?”

“Dallas,” Tyler says and Jenny laughs like he said something funny.

“Well, well,” Jenny says like now she has all the answers in the world in her pocket, and then she looks at Jordie with a little raised eyebrow. “You always make Friday night dinners more interesting, dear brother of mine, but this… this might be the best one yet.”

And Tyler doesn’t think he gets scared easily, but that tone? That tone right there scares him very much indeed.

“Oh, come on, I’m sure everyone will be thrilled to learn about our engagement,” Jordie says and laces his fingers together with Tyler’s as he sits closer to him.

Jenny regards them with another curious look. “Honestly, I don’t even know what’s going to be the bigger thing here. You marrying a guy or you marrying a Yankee?” she says, and she’s clearly making fun of someone, presumably their grandpa, because she deepens her voice on the last word.

And Tyler has seen a couple borderline crazy, evil smiles on Jordie’s face in the past couple days but the one he’s sporting now is truly the most devil-like. “Oh, but my Jenny, he’s not a Yankee. He’s fresh out of Greece.”

The shriek that leaves Jenny’s mouth doesn’t sound human.

*

**JORDIE**

Jordie thinks their cover remains intact throughout Tyler’s first meeting with his siblings but the alarms start going off in his head when Jamie corners him in the kitchen. Tyler decided to take a nap in Jordie’s room before setting off for dinner and Jenny is nowhere to be seen. She has probably already started getting ready for the night – which, knowing her, is at least a 2-hour long process – so it’s only him and his brother next to the spacious kitchen island.

Jordie hasn’t been home in almost four months and he wants to say that Jamie hasn’t changed anything in that time, but he does look more tired and wrung-out than usual. He feels a protective surge take over him as he looks at the dark bags under his eyes and he wants to tell him to take care of himself, to prioritize his health over whatever anatomy book he’s been poring over long into the night – but if one thing all three Benn siblings are, it’s stubborn, so he knows his words would only fall on deaf ears.

“You good, Chubbs? You look tired,” he decides on saying eventually and he hopes that Jamie gets the implication behind his words.

“It’s fine,” Jamie waves him off. “I had my last exam this morning, I’ll have all the time to sleep now.”

“Okay, if you say so,” Jordie says, not convinced at all, but even if Jamie hears the disbelief in his voice he doesn’t raise to the bait.

“So… you never mentioned Tyler before,” Jamie says, clearly trying for casual, and he fails spectacularly.

“It’s… a complicated thing,” Jordie says, and really, he’s not even lying. The word complicated describes their situation perfectly. “I didn’t know how you guys… would react to it.”

And look, the thing is, Jordie is 95% sure that Jamie is actually gay. Jamie has never told him but Jordie knows him way better than anyone in their family does – and they grew up together, went through puberty almost side by side, and Jordie was not blind to the things that he saw or deaf to the things he heard. Really, the fact that he never had a girlfriend or that Jordie saw him get flustered every single time his old buddy, Will, used to come over to their place, was just the cherry on top of Jordie’s very large vindication cake. 

So Jordie knows this, but now he also feels a tower of guilt build up in stomach as he starts talking about Tyler to him, because he sees the expression on Jamie’s face and, all of a sudden, it dawns on Jordie how all this circus with his fake fiancé is just… really _unfair_ to Jamie. And Jordie doesn’t know how he didn’t think of all of this before they got here, how he forgot to think about how Jamie would feel seeing his very own brother waltz into their family dinner with a guy on his arm, knowing full well that he could probably never do that, even if actually wanted to and… Shit, how did he not think of that?

He suddenly starts feeling like the shittiest brother ever – but it’s not like he can just say fuck it to this whole thing. He’s not alone in this, and as much as he now realizes how unfair the whole thing is to Jamie, he also realizes that he can’t actually stop it, no matter how much he might want to – because then how unfair would that whole thing be to Tyler?

Jordie is a fucking idiot. There’s literally no other way he can put this.

Jamie is seemingly unaware that his facial expressions threw Jordie into the deepest pits of existential crisis and despair and continues talking.

“Did you think that we would… not be okay with you being… gay?” he asks.

“Bisexual,” Jordie corrects him quickly, like maybe being just a little gay will save him from being a complete asshole to his little brother. Like maybe flaunting his very male fiancé to their family as a bisexual man would lessen the unfairness of the situation to his gay brother.

It makes more sense in Jordie’s head. Not a _lot_ of sense, but definitely more.

“It’s a hard thing to do… coming out,” Jordie adds, and half of him winces at the hypocrisy of his words, but the other half hopes that maybe, just maybe, this will actually help Jamie to come out. He knows he’s trying to find justification for his actions but if there’s at least one good thing to come out of all this, then maybe that could lessen the guilt he feels right now.

“I’m sure,” Jamie adds and his voice sounds guarded. “Anyway, he seems very nice. And he’s, like, handsome and all, so good job, Jord,” he adds jokingly and Jordie is so glad that Jamie doesn’t seem to be mad at him and that he also seems to be believing their story, that the thought that _maybe_ Jamie is not actually joking, doesn’t even cross his mind.

As he said, Jordie is an idiot.

*

Jamie and Jenny seem to decide that Tyler is now officially part of the family and there’s no going back on that for them, so by the time they get into Jamie’s car to drive over to their grandparents’ house in Richmond, all of them are chatting away like they’ve been long lost best friends.

“So tell me all about these Friday night dinners,” Tyler says.

Jamie’s driving because Jordie and Jenny has already started drinking (preparation for the night), and none of them knows if Tyler can actually drive in Canada or not. (They should probably figure that out, Jordie makes a mental note in his head. That seems like an important piece of information.)

“Oh, you’re going to love them,” says Jenny. “Jordie told you about our family, right?”

“Bits and pieces,” Tyler says, and that makes Jenny clap her hands excitedly.

“Okay, so Friday night dinner is, like, this whole tradition in the Benn family. It’s not just us usually, everyone whose first degree Benn and their immediate family is expected to come if they’re home. So obviously, Grandpa and Grandma are the hosts, you’ll recognize them, they’re like, the old ones who act like they’re the most important people ever to walk this Earth.”

“Jenny, don’t ruin Tyler before we can even get there, please,” Jordie says and he sees that Tyler is grinning at him.

“Jordie, he has to know what sort of lion cave you’re leading him into. Anyways, so then you’ll meet the rest of your in-laws, Mom and Dad, but they’ll be fine, they’re harmless,” Jenny says and Jordie sees that a bit of confusion has settled over Tyler’s face but he doesn’t ask anything. “Then Uncle Patrick and his wife, Christina, will also be there – they’re really funny, the both of them. Their kids, our cousins, Mitch and Auston are not here, though, they’re spending the summer over in Toronto and I don’t think they’ll be back soon. And then there’s, of course, Aunt Hilary, but she’s also not coming today because she spends most of her time in Singapore.”

“Oh, okay, I can remember like half of these people maybe,” Tyler lets out a little laugh and Jordie almost tells him the less he can remember, the “better” impression they’ll make but then he remembers that they have a cover to keep up, so he laces their fingers together again. 

“It’s going to be okay, I’ll help you out with the names,” he says in his best reassuring boyfriend voice and judging from Jenny’s face, he succeeds.

Tyler nods at him and he’s a better actor than Jordie thought he was because he actually looks like he’s anxious about this dinner. He squeezes his hand where he’s still holding it perched on top of the seat between them, and Tyler squeezes it back.

They’re good. They’re going to be good.

“And when are you guys bringing someone to Friday night dinner, my dear siblings? I’ve been hearing nothing about your love lives,” Jordie asks.

Jamie doesn’t say anything, just keeps staring at the road, while Jenny groans.

“Men are stupid, Jord. All of them,” she says.

“Well, I’m hoping you mean present company excepted,” Jordie adds.

Jenny barely looks up from her phone where she’s furiously tapping on the screen. “Oh gosh no, you guys probably lead the list, but at least, I never had any expectations for you that you could have ruined.”

“Hey,” Jamie adds, and Jenny pats his face still without looking up from her iPhone. 

“You’re right, baby bro. You’re like the least bad out of all of them,” she says and Jamie smiles at her.

“Thanks, Jen,” he says, still smiling.

Tyler lets go of Jordie’s hand.

“I don’t think that was a compliment, Jame,” Jordie adds, and Jamie shrugs.

“Oh, it was. Coming from Jenny it was,” he says and Jenny laughs this bright loud laugh Jordie missed hearing so much in Dallas. 

“I feel like I have a bad reputation. Don’t believe a word they say, Tyler,” she says as she puts her phone away.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare, Jenny,” Tyler says, and he grins, and Jordie suddenly gets the feeling that he fits right well in with them.

It’s a good thing he’s going to be a Benn.

The rest of the car ride is filled with the oh-so familiar bickering that usually takes up the majority of their time spent together, and by the time they get to the grandparents’ place, Jordie is relaxed and almost giddy with happiness. The guard at the gate lets them right in and Jamie pulls up to the building and parks the car smoothly on the gravel. 

Their parents’ Porsche is already there but Uncle Patrick and Aunt Christina haven’t seemed to arrive just yet, although, Jordie thought their quartet be the last to get there for sure. Between he and Tyler scrambling around their bags to find something slightly fancy to wear to dinner and Jenny’s seemingly never-ending beauty process, they never even dreamed of being on time – but the roads were actually quite empty compared to the Friday night usual, so they manage to walk up the stairs just as the sun is about to set on top of the large oak trees.

Jordie takes Tyler’s hand when they get out of the car and he feels that it is slightly trembling. He cleaned up really nicely, wearing jeans and a nice button-down (clothes even color coordinated with Jordie’s outfit that earned them an approving nod from Jenny), and not even his bandage covered forehead is able to ruin his looks.

Maybe Jordie will turn gay by the end of this marriage – he seems to be calling Tyler handsome a lot lately, it’s messing with his head. (He stares at him for a couple extra seconds while they wait for someone to open to the door and while Tyler is busy checking out the rose garden behind them – so he stares and tries to make himself feel something but… no, Tyler is _just_ Tyler to him, and yeah, the guilt is back, hi, new friend.)

Then the door opens, and they step into the place where Jordie hated coming to for as long as he can remember.

Here we go again, he thinks. Here we fucking go again.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Life-changing revelations?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knows that this is not what they agreed on; that he’s only here to act as a scandal – but he is not going to be walked over in the process.

**TYLER**

Tyler is so out of his depth, he’s sure he’ll drown by the end of this dinner – and they haven’t even started eating yet, _dammit_.

When Jordie said that their grandparents were living in a mansion, Tyler understood the words and the meaning behind those words – he did, for sure. Still, there’s a big difference between knowing that they’ll be coming to a mansion and, you know, _actually coming to a mansion_.

And really, Tyler is no architect or interior decorator, but he’s travelled around the world a bit, and he’s seen nice buildings – both Britain and Greece were full of nice and fancy and historic buildings and castles, one seemingly popping up in every random city he has ever set foot in. But he never knew people who actually lived in places like that – never been inside one of those fancy buildings to have dinner there, only to maybe see an exhibition on weird local traditions or painters no one has heard of.

The mansion is a bit of a cross-over between a modern cottage and a more European-style castle-y building (Tyler is no expert, he doesn’t know what they’re called, okay?) and it’s certainly very tasteful, the inside full of shiny marble and dark wood and old paintings. Walking into the “sitting room” where the maid (Tyler thinks he gave up at this point because who on Earth has a maid) tells them the rest of family is drinking aperitifs, Tyler also spots a huge family portrait where a younger versions of the Benn siblings pose in tailored suits – and a fluffy dress in Jenny’s case – smiling alongside a few adults and an even older couple. And Tyler would totally go over to the painting to check out the details because it looks cool and ridiculously over-the-top and he wants to tease Jordie about it later – but then he spots the other members of the family and from there on, he barely seems take in any of the other fancy furniture and décor.

Throughout all the ridiculous planning he and Jordie did in the past couple of days, Jordie never once thought to show a picture of his family to Tyler, and Tyler forgot to even think about how they might look like – but he thinks if he would have pictured them, he would have pictured them almost exactly like this. Again, he doesn’t want to believe in stereotypes or anything but – well, Jordie’s whole family seems to be a living, breathing stereotype of an upper-class family and Tyler can’t just not notice that.

“Oh, children, finally, I thought you would never get here!” exclaims the older woman sitting in the armchair below the family portrait.

She looks way younger than Grandpa Benn whose hair is completely gray and his face wrinkled, while she, on the other hand, could say she’s not a year older than 50 and people would probably believe her – but Tyler would put a lot of money on that being the case thanks to the helping hand of botox treatment, expensive makeup and a great hairdresser.

Tyler should also stop being so judge-y when he has never even met these people. They might be nice – he should at least give them, like, a chance or something. He’s marrying into the family, after all.

Grandma Benn waves them closer and all three grandchildren give her kisses on her cheeks dutifully, with Jordie and Tyler staying as last. When they step in front of her and Grandpa Benn, she crooks a carefully shaped eyebrow at Jordie.

“Jordan,” she starts and Tyler promises himself never to call Jordie that again ever in his life. “Who’s this young man, here?”

Jordie takes a deep breath and puts his arm around Tyler’s waist. Tyler knows he’s probably stiffer than any of the stone statues that they saw perched next to the entrance but Jordie also feels awkward beside him, so he tries to relax a little into his arms for both of their sakes. He manages. A bit.

Grandma Benn is definitely not smiling anymore.

“Grandma, let me introduce you to my fiancé, Tyler,” Jordie says, and for a second there, no one even dares to move, no one even dares to take a breath. The silence stretches impossibly thin around them while Jordie’s grandparents just keep staring at them, and Tyler is ready to have another panic attack. He doesn’t need their approval, this whole circus was never about that – but he still feels like he’s on the stage, being judged for how he looks and how he sounds and how he acts. It’s slightly terrifying. 

“Excuse me?” Grandma Benn says, and honestly, Tyler is impressed with her poise because her expression betrays absolutely no emotions. (Or maybe that’s just the botox.)

“Jordan, this is one of your jokes, right?” says Grandpa Benn before Jordie could say anything. “Very funny, son, but you see, no one is laughing.”

Jordie clears his throat. “I’m not joking, Grandpa. Tyler and I are in love and we’re engaged.”

“Really?” says his Grandpa, and Tyler is suddenly filled with a burning hatred toward the man. He hasn’t even said anything bad, but the way that little word, that little ‘really’ has left his mouth… Tyler suddenly starts to understand where Jordie was coming from when he said all those things about his grandpa.

Jordie also seems to find his bravado (and maybe his hatred) again because when he speaks, he sounds way more sure of himself, has way more force in his words, too. _Showtime_ , Tyler thinks.

“We’re actually getting married this summer,” and wait, what? They haven’t discussed that at all, Jordie. That’s like… a month to get everything done, what is he even thinking? “I hope you’ll be celebrating it with us.”

“Of course, we will be,” says someone on their other side, and when Tyler looks over, he sees a man, most probably Jordie’s father, talking. “Right, father? We’re happy that Jordie has found himself such a nice partner. We’re really excited to get to know you, Tyler.”

Tyler sees a flash of surprise pass over a couple people’s faces around him, including Jenny and Jamie, too, and he wonders whether their father standing up for them is a rarer occurrence than he would have believed it was before.

“Thank you, I’m also really excited about that,” Tyler says, and he doesn’t know why he’s so conscious to stifle any remains of his accent when he speaks, but he still does it without even really trying. His accent was one of the main point of this charade, he doesn’t have to hide it, what the hell, Tyler.

The grandparents still say nothing, but the air is not so charged any more around them, and when Tyler and Jordie finally take a seat on one of the sofas, Jamie jumps up to act as their knight in shining armor.

“Grandpa, let me refill your scotch,” he says and starts pouring drinks for everyone else, too, and that seems to break any remains of the awkward moment.

He pushes another scotch into Jordie’s hand, but when he hands Tyler a drink, Tyler doesn’t recognize what the glass contains. It’s mostly clear and has a slice of lemon and some crashed ice floating around in it.

“I don’t…” Tyler starts to whisper to Jamie as he takes a seat right next to him, because his stomach is already in knots, he doesn’t need to make it more complicated by drinking, but Jamie doesn’t let him finish.

“It’s lemonade. I don’t think you should really drink after you banged your head,” he says in a hushed voice so that only Tyler can hear him and sends him one of these small smiles that seem to fit his earnest eyes perfectly and Tyler could lose a couple seconds just staring at his face but he feels Jordie’s arm sneak around his waist at the same moment, so he just sends a grateful smile Jamie’s way.

“Thanks,” he says and Jamie nods, and then their little moment is over. And thank the Lord it is, because the next thing Tyler notices is the way Jamie smells up close and personal, and going there would be like going into a beautiful forest without a map – a magical but utterly stupid act.

He turns his head back to the conversation just in time to hear his name being mentioned.

“So, Tyler, tell us a little about yourself,” Grandma Benn says and Tyler doesn’t know if they have accepted Jordie’s announcement this easily (for some reason, he doubts that that would be the case) or they want to talk to him to find out about all his faults, but he answers regardless.

“Well, I was working down in Dallas which was where we met,” he starts, but Grandma Benn waves him off.

“No, start from the beginning. Where are you from? What do your parents do?” she says, and Tyler can’t help but feel like he’s back in school, being graded on a presentation.

He takes a sip of his lemonade. It’s just the right mixture of sweet and sour, and he wants to hug Jamie for it. Tyler knows it wasn’t him who made it but still. He poured it, like, really nicely. “Well… I was born in Greece, in a smaller town called…”

“Greece?” Grandpa Benn repeats before Tyler could finish his sentence again, and Tyler doesn’t want to sound bitchy but he’d like to finish at least, like, one sentence while he’s here.

“Greece, Sir,” he answers. “I grew up not too far from Athens in Dilesi.”

“So what about the British accent, son? Picked it up as a fancy?” he says and chuckles a little and looks around like he expects the others to join in. They don’t.

“My dad lived in Manchester for a couple years and I lived with him for a bit.”

“Your parents are divorced?” Jordie’s mom asks him, and she seems nice and interested and all but now Tyler is wondering if the Benns are the sort of family that frowns upon divorcees or whose family is filled with them.

Tyler, stop fucking doubting everything. You don’t need their approval. You don’t. That’s the point of this whole thing, you idiot.

“Yeah,” he says eventually, ignoring his own thoughts. “Both of them remarried, though, and my dad’s new wife just had a baby last year.”

“You have a half-sibling?” Jordie asks and raises his eyebrow.

“You didn’t know that, Jordie?” Jenny asks, confusion written all over her face, and oh. Yeah, Jordie most probably should have known this, shit.

Jordie seems to realize his mistake at the same time, too, and sends a slightly panicky look Tyler’s way.

“I don’t talk to them a lot, so it probably just… never came up,” Tyler says quickly, and puts a hand over Jordie’s and pulls it into his lap. Both his grandparents’ eyes zero in on the not so subtle movement, so Tyler is suddenly really proud of his attention diversion techniques. Having something to hold onto also grounds him, so really, two birds with one stone and all that.

“And what brought you to Canada, Tyler?” Jenny asks, and she’s probably trying to be helpful by trying to steer the conversation onto safer topics but Tyler is slowly coming to the realization that there are probably no safe topics in his and Jordie’s non-relationship – none at all. 

“Well… mostly Jordie,” he admits with a little laugh.

Judging from the looks the grandparents, and even Jordie’s parents, exchange with each other, it’s not the right answer – even though Tyler thinks, with his hurt pride and all, that it is actually a quite romantic answer. They could be, like, happy about the fact that he loves Jordie so much that he’s following him around the world. Okay, _theoretically_ – but still.

“So you’re not here to work? What is it exactly that you do actually?”

“He worked in a convenience store in Dallas,” says Jordie before Tyler could even say anything.

Tyler’s stomach drops a little. He doesn’t want to feel shame, not because of honest work he did (it might have been illegal but it was _honest_ , and no one can tell him otherwise) – he is proud of the fact that he was able to support himself even in those circumstances. And he’s not ashamed, not of any of the things that some of these people think he should be of: not his accent, not his immigrant status and definitely not where he’s from. But hearing those words from Jordie’s mouth still sounds bad and he can’t help feeling like that.

But after all, wasn’t it him that ran away to big shiny America to live in a better place? Isn’t that shame in a way – isn’t that admitting that he didn’t like where he was?

“I’m hoping I can find something a bit more challenging here,” he says in the end, and Jordie sends him a curious look. He knows that this is not what they agreed on; that he’s only here to act as a scandal – but he is not going to be walked over in the process. He can’t let that happen.

He already let that happen once and he’s not making the same mistake twice.

“I’m sure you’ll find something. Vancouver is full of opportunities,” Jamie says, and Tyler’s traitorous heart flutters.

They ask a couple more questions, and Tyler answers them as well as he can, walking the thin line between sounding like a gold-digger and a loving boyfriend, and it’s not outright hostile or anything, but he doesn’t miss the shared looks and the clipped half-sentences. He is used to picking up on those – it’s not the first time he’s the new kid somewhere, after all. 

The arrival of Patrick and Christina is a welcome change, at least, and they warm up incredibly quickly to the fact that their nephew is now apparently engaged to a man (though, Tyler doesn’t think he imagines the subtle looks they send Jamie’s way. Tyler doesn’t think that Jamie is as much in the closet as Jordie claimed he was). And they are actually really funny, just as Jenny said, so by the time all of them settle down for dinner, the conversation is flowing almost (emphasis on almost) easily around the table.

Until the main course is served, of course. But Tyler thinks they actually lasted quite a long time – he’s almost proud of them.

**JORDIE**

If there’s one thing Jordie has always liked about Friday night dinners, it’s the food. Their grandparents don’t have a very eclectic taste in food but they have travelled all around the globe and picked up favorite dishes from here and there – and well, even though those damn immigrants are ruining the country and the economy by coming here, their dishes are welcome to stay.

Jordie is, naturally, not mocking his grandparents. 

And today, because the irony of Jordie’s life lays in timing apparently, his grandma decided to ask the chef to make this lovely eggplant dish that she had the other day in some new restaurant she and some of her friends went to for a charity lunch.

Tyler’s smile is the widest Jordie has seen it when he spots the food.

“Oh my god, I haven’t had Moussaka in like a year,” he says quietly when the maid brings the dish out.

Tyler hasn’t spoken a lot through dinner so far, only contributed to the conversation when he was specifically asked to do so – and Jordie is a little confused, because he doesn’t think Tyler was ever this shy or closed off. But now, his quiet comment was apparently heard by a couple more sets of ears than he probably intended to because his grandma looks straight at him – an almost welcoming change from where she was ignoring Tyler for, at least, a good half an hour after their semi-successful interrogation session was over.

“Oh, you like Moussaka?” she asks.

“Oh, I mean, it’s… Greek,” Tyler says, and Jordie is sure he wanted to add ‘duh’ to the end of the sentence. Jordie is a little sad he didn’t, if he’s being honest. Not because all Greek people should be expected to like Greek food but, like, it would have been funny.

“Perfect timing then, Mom,” Jordie’s dad says as people are starting to reach around for the food on the table.

“Well, I had it in this new Turkish restaurant,” Grandma Benn says, and it sounds weirdly pointed for such an innocent comment. But maybe Jordie is just always on edge here.

“Yeah, they have it all over the Mediterranean and the Balkans – they are not completely the same. Like, little differences here and there, but I like the Greek one the most,” offers Tyler, clearly trying to finish the conversation.

“You should probably get used to the Canadian version, then, if you’re planning on staying here,” adds Grandpa Benn, and Jordie can literally feel his blood pressure rising. His comment doesn’t even make sense, for fuck’s sake, what does he even fucking mean by Canadian version. He clearly only said it to piss them off which… pisses Jordie off, so congrats to his Grandpa, he guesses. This would usually be the point where he would start to purposefully calm himself down during Friday night dinners to not upset anyone around the table, to keep the family love intact and not to rock the boat – but well, that doesn’t have to be the case anymore, does it?

“He is planning to stay, Grandpa. Marriage is a pretty great reason to stay,” Jordie says, and the conversation between Jamie, Jenny and Christina immediately die down on the other side of the table.

“Well, marriage is the only reason he can actually stay, isn’t it?” Grandpa asks and Jordie doesn’t think he imagines hearing someone wince at that.

“If you’re referring to his citizenship, then say that, Grandpa. There’s no reason to beat around to bush here. We all know what you think about immigrants.”

“Jordie,” his mom starts but Jordie shakes his head at her.

Grandpa Benn puts his fork down slowly, and he lifts his napkin to his mouth. “Jordan, you’re forgetting yourself, son.”

“If you think I’m going to sit here and let you accuse my fiancé of only marrying me for my citizenship or our money or whatever,” he says and he tries to keep his voice as even as possible, even though the hypocrisy in his words cuts him somewhere deep, “then you are sorely mistaken. I love Tyler and he loves me, and we’re going to get married and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Marrying into the Benn family is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly, Jordan, but apparently you don’t understand what that entails. I’m not saying I’m surprised, though, you never really seemed to understand what responsibility meant,” Grandpa says and he lifts his fork up again, like just like that, he is already done with this conversation.

It’s like his Grandpa knows exactly what words would hurt Jordie the most, and he chooses them specifically for that reason – and Jordie hates how he can’t just shake them off, can’t just ignore them and act like the bigger person.

“I’m not going to sit here and listen to this, anymore. Come on, Ty, we’re leaving,” he says finally, when a long moment of silence settles down around the dinner table, and when he gets up, Tyler follows him without a word.

He stops for a second, when he hears his Grandpa speak again. “Don’t think it’s over, Jordan.”

But Jordie doesn’t turn around, doesn’t answer anything, just grabs Tyler’s hand and they walk out, neither of them looking back this time. Let his grandpa think he can have the last word – he’ll know eventually what they are capable of.

They’re already opening the door leading to the garden when Jamie catches up with them.

“Hey, let me drive you guys home,” he says and Jordie sees that he’s trying to make eye contact with Tyler, but Tyler has been staring at the ground ever since they left the dining room and he doesn’t seem to be changing that in the near future.

“Don’t worry about it, Jame,” Jordie says as he slips his phone back into his back pocket. “I already called an Uber.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind,” he says but Jordie shakes his head.

“It’s fine, really.”

Jamie nods but he’s still looking at Tyler.

“I’m sorry he said all that. We don’t agree with him, I hope you guys know that,” he adds awkwardly. “We’re happy for you.”

“Thank you, bro, it does mean a lot,” Jordie says and he’s telling the truth, he really is. Knowing that Jamie is always in his corner has helped him through so much in his life, and even if this situation is a little different, his unwavering support still makes Jordie smile.

They say their farewell then, Tyler whispering thanks and see you later and nothing more, and then they’re out the door, walking down to the security booth. The night is silent and quiet around them – one of those lovely June evenings that seem to slow time down and Jordie is angry that he can’t enjoy it the way he’s supposed to.

“I’m sorry you had to listen to that,” Jordie says to break the silence between him and Tyler.

“It’s okay. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before,” Tyler says. Jordie doesn’t know if those words were meant as reassuring or something but they have the exact opposite effect on him.

“Ty,” he says and stops in the middle of the road. “If this ever gets too much…”

“I’ll be fine, Jordie, really. It’s never nice to hear all that but it gets old eventually. I know I don’t even have it that bad, really. I can pass as an American or a Canadian or anything if I want to – some people don’t have that luxury. I can deal with a couple assholes.”

And it still doesn’t convince Jordie, not fully, because it shouldn’t be like that but he nods eventually. “Tell me if it gets too much, okay. We’ll figure something out.”

And Tyler nods and smiles and they continue their walk down the road. They’re almost at the gate when Tyler starts talking again.

“Though, next time can you time our dramatic exit for after I actually had the chance to eat the Moussaka?” he says, and Jordie laughs.

“Come on, I’ll buy you dinner,” he says and Tyler smiles and it seems like everything is okay between them again.

Still, as they get into the Uber, Jordie can’t help but feel that a wall is slowly building up between them – something he doesn’t know if they will be able to smash down, or even just keep climbing over. Or maybe it has always been there and he just never noticed it.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I craving Moussaka now? Maybe so, maybe so.
> 
> Oh yeah also: I am totally not Greek so, like... sorry for any inaccuracies there? I'm handwaving a whole lot of things here but call me out, please, if I write something really stupid.
> 
> Keep the comments coming, I always get so happy when I get a new one. <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate universe, Tyler promises to dedicate his whole life to making Jamie laugh like that until he draws his dying breath.

**TYLER**

Tyler’s first night in Canada, in his new home, is far from perfect. It’s a few hours of fitful sleep where his priority shifts from trying to fall asleep to trying to at least not wake Jordie – who’s sleeping on the other side of the bed – in only a couple of hours. He doesn’t know if it’s because of the way their night went (which was actually a really successful one from the point of view of their original plan which offers exactly zero amount of satisfaction to Tyler), or maybe because falling asleep in a strange new place is always hard – maybe it doesn’t even matter why. He can’t sleep and that’s it – the reason why doesn’t seem to matter that much in his frustration.

He finally gives up and quietly tiptoes to the kitchen around 1 am. He grabs some water from the fridge and heads towards the balcony, hoping that the night chill might make him sleepy eventually.

But when he steps out onto the cool tiles, the balcony already seems to be occupied.

“Oh,” Tyler says as he spots Jamie, who’s sitting on one of those woven garden chairs that resemble little sofas on their spacious balcony, bundled into a fluffy blanket, seemingly not doing anything other than staring up at the night sky. There are almost no stars visible, just a scatter of the brightest ones and, for a moment, a burning sense of homesickness passes through Tyler. It’s gone in a quick second, but it leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Jamie turns towards him. “Hey, couldn’t sleep?” he asks with an easy smile and moves to one side of the sofa, clearly inviting Tyler over.

“No. I’m not usually a bad sleeper but I can’t seem to fall asleep tonight,” Tyler says and settles down next to Jamie.

He plans to leave some space between them because he has already firmly decided that any sort of feelings toward Jamie must be stifled before they could even be formed – but apparently Jamie didn’t get the memo because when Tyler sits down, he immediately rearranges his blanket so it can cover both of them.

Tyler has zero feelings. Absolutely none. He’s known Jamie for about 12 hours (half a day, for crying out loud) and it would be absolutely ridiculous to have any sort emotions about this, about _him_. Absolutely ridiculous, Tyler.

“Same here, to be honest. I think the exam period completely messed up my sleep schedule so now my body has no idea what time it’s supposed to get sleepy at,” he says with a little chuckle and he pulls the blanket a little further up as a small breeze blows through the balcony.

“Jordie said you’re in med school.”

Jamie smiles at him. “Yeah, no,” he chuckles and when Tyler raises his eyebrows in confusion, he continues. “Jordie has no idea what he’s talking about as usual. I’m doing animal biology now and then I’ll be applying to vet school. In like two years, so it’s still a bit further down the road.”

“You’re going to be a vet?”

And when Jamie nods, Tyler really tries to think of literally anything other than Jamie surrounded by puppies and kittens and little cows – but he’s only human and it’s 1 am and honestly, after the day he’s had, after the _week_ he’s had, he thinks he deserves a little bit of feel-good daydreaming. As a treat.

Jamie and little baby cows. Tyler is going to die.

“Please tell me you work with dogs,” Tyler says instead because he’s a reasonable human being who can multitask – he can hold a conversation while he’s thinking about Jamie with the baby cows.

“Not at school. It’s a lot of lectures and seminars at this point. I help out at a shelter, though, so you can always come with me if you’re in need of petting some puppies,” he says, and the shy little smile that Tyler is starting to get used to seeing on him is back again.

“I miss having a dog,” Tyler sighs.

“You used to have one?”

“Well, it wasn’t really mine. I had a family dog when I was still living with my mom in Greece, but he passed away a couple years ago when I wasn’t there. And when I moved to my dad’s place in England, we weren’t allowed to have one in his first apartment. By the time, he moved to an actual house with like a backyard and all that, I already knew that I’d be leaving after graduating high school, so it didn’t make a lot of sense to get one.”

“I’m sorry,” Jamie says and Tyler shrugs a shoulder.

“It’s fine. Moving around is not really good for a dog and if I get one, I want to be a good dog dad.”

“That’s very responsible of you,” Jamie says and Tyler looks at him with a smile.

“Are you saying that as a future vet?” he asks and Jamie chuckles again, and in an alternate universe Tyler promises to dedicate his whole life to making Jamie laugh like that until he draws his dying breath.

“Don’t laugh at me, but I never actually had my own dog even though I love animals and I always wanted to be a vet,” Jamie says and Tyler feels like he’s being let in on a secret.

“How is that even possible?”

“My grandpa had the cutest beagle in the world when I was little, and I’m pretty sure that brainwashed me completely. I used to love hanging out with her. We went on these adventures together and whenever my parents came to pick me up to take me home, I would burst out crying because I had to leave her.”

“That is the most adorable thing I have ever heard,” Tyler says before he can stop himself, and even in the dark, he can see Jamie’s blush. 

Tyler, _stop that_.

They do end up talking about other things, just bits and pieces of random topics: the best places in Vancouver that Tyler must check out, how boring some of Jamie’s lectures are and why on Earth he has to take an Intro to Accounting class as an animal biology major, and what Tyler would want to maybe do in the future (sports analytics hopefully, if maybe he could take actual classes at some point in his life and not just read blog posts on it – even though the blog posts are really good, Jamie, you should definitely check them out, no, it’s not boring, what the hell).

And the conversation between them just seems to flow like it’s the easiest thing ever and the time passes and passes and passes and Tyler only really notices it when at one point he pulls his phone out to show Jamie a picture he took back in Dallas when he went to a baseball game, and he sees that it’s almost 4 am.

(And then he just ignores it, even though he knows he shouldn’t. He pulls the picture up instead and tells the story to Jamie – who listens like he listened to all the other ones before that.)

The conversation dies down for a couple minutes after that, both of them staring up at the night sky enjoying the warmth of the blanket and the cool breeze on their skin where the blanket can’t cover them. Tyler almost says something about the stars and how they always make him homesick and then make him think about all the things he still misses about Greece even though there’s a lot that he obviously doesn’t miss, but suddenly, he feels like that would be too personal, too close, too _important_ \- if that even makes any sense. He doesn’t even understand why he feels like he wants to share this with Jamie; why he randomly feels like he _needs_ Jamie to know this – but it scares him so much that he manages to keep his mouth shut which is probably the first, and only, reasonable decision he has made ever since saying yes to Jordie’s stupid idea back in Dallas.

“You should try to get some sleep,” Jamie says suddenly, and now that Tyler actually thinks about it, he does feel sleepy.

“Yeah,” he says, and they sit for a couple more seconds, not moving just yet.

Tyler is just about to get up and finally, actually say good night to Jamie when Jamie starts talking again.

“I hope you’ll like it here. I hope you’ll find a home here,” he says and Tyler knows his choice of words are completely coincidental and he knows Jamie couldn’t know but his stomach is still suddenly in knots. 

“Thank you, Jamie,” he says weakly in response and it’s not much but Jamie doesn’t seem bothered by his lack of enthusiasm.

Eventually they do get up and slowly head back inside, both of them finally disappearing into their respective rooms with quiet smiles and awkward waves, not even uttering a single word now that they’re inside again – like it’s okay to talk on the balcony or under the night sky or covered by the same blanket but inside? No, the inside has different rules, and they both know it. 

As Tyler settles back in his bed, trying to get comfortable as far away from Jordie’s sleeping form as he possibly can, he can’t decide what scares him more: that he wanted to tell Jamie about the stars and Greece and why he left, or the complete certainty that Jamie would have wanted to listen to it.

*

The next morning Tyler decides two things:

1: He can only spend time alone with Jamie when it is _absolutely_ necessary. 

2: He has to marry Jordie as quickly as humanly possible before he does something very, very stupid.

And really, the two goes hand in hand: a busy groom preparing for his wedding has absolutely no time to even think about his future brother-in-law in any unbrotherly way. It’s a foolproof plan.

**JORDIE**

Jordie is not so keen on Tyler’s plan, though, even though he doesn’t actually know about Tyler’s full plan. Or he is keen on it, sure he is, it was him who literally told their grandparents that the wedding would be in a month time – so he knows they have to start preparing for it, rather sooner than later. He knows.

It doesn’t mean he wants to start preparing for it at 8 in the morning on a Saturday on his literal first day back in Vancouver. Like, he has things to do here, that he couldn’t do for the last four months while he was wasting his time in Dallas managing financial portfolios of people he didn’t like.

“What things?” Tyler asks when Jordie says this to him, too. The annoying thing is he’s not even asking it accusingly, like he’s an abandoned groom whose fiancé is willing to lift exactly zero fingers to help plan their wedding (even though he kind of is one) – he’s literally just asking it as a normal question, like he wants to know what Jordie’s plans are, so Jordie can’t even get annoyed at him.

“Well,” he starts but before he could finish his sentence, his sister who’s never fucking awake at 8 am on a Saturday, what the hell, chimes in.

“He has nothing to do, Tyler. He’s just a lazy blob who’ll do literally nothing unless you hold him at gunpoint and threaten him,” Jenny says while she helps herself to some coffee Tyler made for their early dawn wedding planning session.

“Oh fuck off. Anyway, why do we even have to start planning the wedding on a Saturday? We can’t possibly start on a Saturday,” he says and he grabs the remote from under the coffee table. He doesn’t know which idiot thought that underneath the coffee table is where a remote should be put but it’s stupid. Honestly, he can see any of the three think that and the mere thought depresses him. He lives with savages.

“What do you mean we can’t start planning on a Saturday?” Tyler asks and he follows Jordie to the sofa. He’s at least bringing two cups of coffee with him and deposits one of them into Jordie’s waiting hand, so Jordie can’t really complain. “You were the one who said we’re getting married in a month, that’s, like, no time for planning. Also, we could do a bunch of things on a Saturday. We could go and look for a venue. Or look for a caterer. Or a florist. Or a photographer. Do you even know how much planning a wedding requires?”

“He doesn’t know, Tyler. And do you know what the really annoying thing is? He will never know. Because you’re going to give up pestering him with it in about two days, and then you will plan the whole thing yourself and on your wedding day, he’s just going to show up and say something stupid like, ‘good job, Tyler’, and then he’ll walk off like it’s no big deal to get, like, a beer and then you’re going to be just standing there trying to decide between wanting to tear you own hair out or going after him and strangling him to death,” Jenny says and her voice is so cheerful that you could almost forget that she’s talking about strangling someone. That she’s talking about strangling Jordie specifically.

“That is wildly specific,” Tyler says and he’s looking at Jenny with wide eyes. “You’re joking, right?”

Jenny hums and takes a sip of her coffee and decidedly does not say that she’s joking. Jordie notices that and he doesn’t like the attitude, he’d like to point that out.

“What I meant by not being able to start planning on a Saturday was that we probably need to talk to the lawyers first. Because I have no idea what we need for the official side of the wedding and I don’t think there’s any point in starting to look at things and making plans when on Monday we go and talk to them and they’ll tell us something that will, like, completely shatter everything we’ve planned before that,” Jordie says, and if he sounds a bit condescending, it’s completely Jenny’s and Tyler’s fault because they were the ones who started acting like children – Jordie is just following their lead.

“Okay, that actually does make sense,” Jenny says eventually. “Miracles do exist, I guess.”

Jordie slaps a pillow over her head and she screams so loudly, Jamie comes out of his room with the most thunderous expression on his face.

“Oh, Jame, did we wake you?” Jordie says with a mocking smile and when Jamie sits down he looks exactly like someone who was very much woken up by loud screaming on a Saturday morning. Jordie would almost feel bad for him but then Jamie steals his coffee and yeah, no, Jordie does not care for Jamie’s wellbeing anymore.

But Tyler is apparently the nicest person ever because he then actually gets up and makes a cup for Jamie’s spoilt ass, and Jamie takes it from Tyler’s waiting hand like Tyler is holding everything he could ever want in his palms. The caffeine addict.

“Also, why are we awake on a Saturday morning? This is not awake time,” Jamie says and Jordie is a good brother and he doesn’t laugh at Jamie’s sleep-mussed hair, even though it’s sticking out at a truly ridiculous angle.

“Tyler decided that he had to start planning the wedding on a Saturday morning because that’s a totally reasonable thing to do.”

“Well, to be fair, Jordie, you were the one who said that you guys were getting married in a month during your dramatic performance yesterday. It’s not his fault – he does have a point there,” Jenny adds and Jordie doesn’t know when everyone here decided that they’re taking Tyler’s side but he doesn’t like it.

“I just wanted to look at some flowers,” Tyler offers to Jamie’s question, like that’s any sort of explanation.

Jamie takes a sip of coffee. “So why can’t you do that? That’s not even planning, just like, seeing what’s on the market or something. You don’t have to make plans for that.”

“You see, we can totally do planning without, you know, actually planning,” Tyler says and Jordie groans. 

“But I told you I have things to do.”

“You have no things to do, Jord, don’t be a baby about this,” Jenny adds with an evil smile.

Jordie groans again but before he could finally say yes because what else could he really say here, Jamie chimes in.

“I can go with him if you’re busy, Jordie.”

“Yes, that’s a great idea!” Jordie shouts excitedly. “It’s bonding time for you, guys. You totally need to get to know each other before the wedding.”

It’s a foolproof plan, Jordie is a genius.

“You guys have created a monster. Jamie, Tyler, whether this wedding happens or not is now completely on you,” Jenny sighs.

(In a month, the irony of saying that exact sentence will not be lost on her.)

*


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And Tyler knows he should be wanting to take that back, that he shouldn’t play with fire but Jamie doesn’t seem to mind and really, why should Tyler mind it then?

**TYLER**

Okay, so the first part of Tyler’s plan is essentially down the drain and he’s totally mad about it. Absolutely furious and all.

Except that he and Jamie are currently walking down a truly lovely street tucked away in one of the many Vancouver neighborhoods that Tyler has no idea if he’ll ever be able to memorize and there are apple trees blooming and the sky is blue and how could Tyler be furious right now? He tried, okay, but it’s _impossible_.

“Okay, so are you going to be one of those grooms that get absolute crazy about their weddings and need every single thing to be perfect?” Jamie asks after they get out of his car. They only found a parking spot a bit further down from the florist that Jamie wanted to show him so now they’re walking up a hill almost shoulder to shoulder underneath the apple trees.

“Are you afraid I’ll turn full on bridezilla on you guys?”

Jamie laughs. “No offense but you don’t seem to be the type.”

“I think you have to say no offense if you tell me that I _do_ seem to be the type,” Tyler says and he finds himself smiling again. That does seem to happen a lot around Jamie, huh. “I mean, I always wanted a nice wedding. But, like, show me someone who doesn’t.”

“Nah, I totally want like a terrible wedding. Like cakes falling apart and accidentally pouring red wine on white dresses level of terrible weddings – that’s the dream,” Jamie says.

“You left out being left at the altar,” Tyler says with a lopsided grin as Jamie finally stops them in front of a store. It says the florist’s name in a nice cursive and it seems to be one of those salons that scream expensive and discreet at the same time – a place where Tyler is sure that everything is available to those who have the means to afford it. It’s definitely a place Tyler would never have thought of going into but Jamie is already opening the door with a casual familiarity and suddenly, the shiny black credit card that Jordie slipped into Tyler’s hand before they left feels like it’s burning a hole through Tyler’s wallet.

“Well, I wouldn’t want that,” Jamie says and for a second, Tyler doesn’t understand what he’s talking about. It probably shows on his face because Jamie clarifies. “Being left at the altar. That’s just a bit too terrible.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tyler adds but his mind is still preoccupied by the store front. Jamie is still holding the door open for him, though, so he doesn’t have a lot of options but to duck into the flower shop.

The inside is even nicer than Tyler could have imagined, a spacious room with lots of light and a rustic feel to it, Pinterest-like chairs with chipped paint and a fake-old vibe, but it’s friendly and welcoming and Tyler is man enough to admit that he actually really likes it. There’s also an almost overwhelming cacophony of smells – and Tyler knows that doesn’t even really make sense but he’s looking around and the smell of roses and lily of the valley and bouquets of tulips are somehow _shouting_ at him. It feels loud and intense – but in an amazing, flowery way.

Tyler is not making any sense, he knows.

“Hey there, can I help you guys with something?” a pretty, blonde girl steps out from the back of the store. She looks like she’s around 25 and has flawless skin and big curls in her hair and she’s wearing a vintage summer dress. 

“Oh, hi,” Jamie says and smiles at the girl and Tyler feels a pang of jealousy in his chest that he immediately crushes. “We’re here to look at some flowers. For a wedding?”

“Aww, congratulations you guys!” she exclaims and claps her hands together before grabbing a big rose gold binder from the counter and wait, what did she say? “Do you have some any ideas for it or you’re up for some suggestions? I’m Steph, by the way, nice to meet you guys.”

“I’m Jamie and this is Tyler but, uhm, we’re…” Jamie starts to say and he looks at Tyler, asking for help. “It’s not for us?”

“I’m the groom, he’s my future brother-in-law,” Tyler says because that’s not, like, super hard to say, Jamie.

The girl looks confused for a second. “Oh, I’m sorry, you guys just looked very…” she starts but then doesn’t finish her sentence. “Anyway, the question still remains: any ideas? Tell me what you had mind, I’m sure you have some ideas.”

“I mean… I do have some ideas, but the wedding is probably going to be on a pretty tight schedule so I think that will restrict us a bit.”

“How tight of a schedule are we talking about here?” 

Tyler and Jamie share a look at that, and Tyler can see the girl’s reaction even before he answers. “About a month.”

She doesn’t say anything for a second. “You’re kidding, right?”

Tyler sighs and shakes his head. “I know it sounds impossible and I’m sure you guys are all booked up but…”

“It is impossible and I’m not saying this for just myself. You’re not going to find anyone, not in Vancouver, not even in like Western Canada, who can do a full wedding arrangement for you in a month.”

And Tyler knew that wedding planning takes a long time for a reason, but deep down he kind of hoped that maybe they could still make the wedding nice, even though it would have to be a quick one. It’s not even like it’s been something that Tyler has always wanted as his life goal or whatever – a nice wedding wasn’t what he was daydreaming about as a little boy – but he still _wanted_ one. And for a long time he completely gave up on it, knew he could never have it after realizing he was gay but now he _does_ have a chance and… he just wanted it to be pretty, okay? Sue him, he knows it’s pathetic but he still wanted it. 

Maybe he should just enjoy the fact that he does get to have a wedding – with a _guy_ , of all things. That’s a great thing to have. Important thing to have. No, everything is okay: he’s just going to enjoy finally getting to have a wedding. His disappointment and crushed hopes and dreams are totally not showing on his face – not at all.

But then Jamie starts talking again, and Tyler doesn’t know what changes in him but suddenly the way he’s standing and talking and just being reminds Tyler of Jordie – of their grandpa, even.

“I know it’s a tight schedule,” he says, like he didn’t even hear the girl’s words before. “But I can assure you, we would be very much indebted to you guys if you could pull some strings for us.”

“I…” she starts to say, confusion clearly written on her face. “Maybe we can try to get something for you guys, but a full wedding…”

“No, no, I completely understand that. It’s just that my grandfather, Warren Benn, told me you guys are the best in business and we really would like to have you guys for the wedding,” he says and Tyler almost starts laughing because he doesn’t think that name-dropping a random billionaire’s name is going to work unless they’re famous or something but then the girl’s eyes grew about four times bigger and Tyler is… Tyler is not so sure anymore.

“Oh, I mean. Let me talk to my manager, I’m sure we can figure something out,” she says eventually when she seems to find her words. She excuses herself to go and get her from the office while leaving the binder out for them to take a look at while they’re waiting.

Once she’s gone, Tyler turns to Jamie with a gaping mouth.

“What the hell was that?”

“Oh gosh, I hate doing that,” Jamie says and he blows some air out, and now that Tyler is looking at him, he does seem a little miserable. “It makes me sick, and I’m sorry but I didn’t see any other way.”

“That was…” Tyler says and Jamie looks at him with these big guilty eyes and sighs.

“I know, it was not cool and I shouldn’t have done that but it’s not your fault that the wedding has to be so soon and you guys do deserve to have it nicely done and…” and he’s rambling but Tyler can’t take it.

“Thank you, Jamie, that was really nice of you. To do that for us,” he says and Jamie shuts up then.

What Tyler does not say is that now he’s definitely all hot and bothered because _holy shit_ , he apparently has some sort of power kink or whatever, but again, _holy shit_ , the way Jamie said all that… Tyler is totally ashamed of himself, fully and completely, but like… wow. (Is Tyler becoming a sugarbaby or something? He totally is, he _totally_ is, shit.)

Fortunately, the girl doesn’t take long and she and her manager are back before Jamie could add anything (and before Tyler could say something stupid).

“We’re really happy to help you guys out,” the manager, Katie, says after a brief round of introductions. “It’s our pleasure, really.”

And Tyler feels like he shouldn’t be okay with this, that he’s maybe losing himself in all of this but once in his life, really once in his life, he wants _something_ to be easy for him. Just one fucking thing; he thinks he deserves it.

*

Jamie turns out to be absolutely useless in helping Tyler choose the flowers but Tyler can’t really say he’s that surprised. 

“They’re both pretty,” he says and Tyler sighs.

“I know, Jamie, this is why I was asking you which one you liked more.”

In his defense, Jamie really looks like someone who is trying to make a decision here.

“The gardenia then,” he says eventually and he looks so proud of himself. And Tyler is also proud of him and all – it’s just that Jamie is pointing at the peony and before Tyler can stop himself, he bursts out laughing.

“What? You don’t like it?” Jamie asks and he honest-to-God looks hurt that Tyler doesn’t seem to like his taste in flowers.

“No, no, it’s a great choice, Jamie, thank you,” Tyler starts but before he could finish, Steph appears next to them.

“Oh, peonies, that would be a wonderful choice,” she exclaims and Tyler doesn’t know if the ‘How to be a flower shop assistant’ manual starts with saying that excitement must be shown at all times but if it does say that, then Steph surely passed the test with flying colors.

Jamie sighs. “Peonies, of course,” he mutters, seemingly to himself and even shakes his head a little.

Steph looks confused for a second. “Anyway, come take a look at these tulips, too, then we can talk specifics,” she says, excitement back immediately and she starts walking towards the back of the store.

“You knew they were peonies,” Jamie says matter-of-factly to Tyler as they start following her. 

Tyler laughs. “I did.”

“And you didn’t want to tell me?”

Tyler knows his smile is impossibly wide but he can’t seem to find it in himself to mind. “Where is the fun in that, darling?”

And Tyler knows he should be wanting to take that back, that he shouldn’t play with fire but Jamie doesn’t seem to mind and really, why should Tyler mind it then?

“The next one will be tulips. Tu-lips, got it, Jame?” he says finally and he guesses he deserves it when Jamie shoves him away.

* 

**JORDIE**

Jamie and Tyler are barely out of the apartment when Jenny seems to decide that it’s high time for her to share her older sisterly wisdom with him.

“Jordie,” she starts and it almost sounds innocent and casual and not like a lecture is coming but Jordie knows her, so when he hears her tone, he sighs a really big sigh, hits save on his Word document, and closes his Macbook.

“Yes,” he says, and Jenny visibly perks up that she has got his attention so quickly. Jordie is not going to tell her that it’s not because he cares so much; he just knows that she’s going to hound him down to get him to listen eventually, so it’s really better for him if he just gets it over with, once and for all.

“I don’t want to intrude where I shouldn’t…” she starts and Jordie doesn’t mean to snort so loudly, but please. _Please_.

“Come on, Jordie. You know I only want the best for you,” she says, sounding almost hurt, and Jordie does feel a little bit of guilt then. “And I know what our family can be like, so I just wanted to tell you to make sure that you’ll do everything to shield Tyler from it.”

And like Jordie can’t say she’s wrong. She’s decidedly not wrong.

“I know you’re right, Jen, and I’m happy you’re looking out for him. For us.”

And Jenny smiles and Jordie is happy that maybe they’re actually done with this conversation this soon but then of course, she goes on.

“Like I know you guys are rushing this wedding for legal reasons,” she says, completely casually, and Jordie doesn’t start choking on nothing but it’s a near thing.

What the actual fuck.

“I’m not stupid, Jordie. You guys are clearly getting married earlier than if it was only up to you. No offense, but I always pictured that you would date some poor girl, or guy I guess, for like ten years before you realized that she was waiting for you to pop the question. You’re like that, don’t even try to front it. I guess this whole citizenship deal actually saved Tyler a whole lot of waiting around for you.”

And Jordie is still so shocked that he barely even comprehends what Jenny is saying but then it slowly starts to trickle in: she doesn’t _actually_ know. She doesn’t know that it’s all fake.

“Or you’re still trying to tell me that that’s not the case?” she looks at him but Jordie knows there’s no way he could deny that to her.

“I mean… I wanted to come back home and I wanted him to come, too, so…” and really, he’s not even lying. These are all, objectively, true statements.

“I thought so. Anyway, I still want you to remember that you brought him into the jungle so it’s up to you if he survives this unscathed or not. Don’t forget to look out for him, okay?” she says and Jordie nods.

“Good talk, brother of mine,” she sing-songs and then leans up to ruffle his hair with a laugh. She runs away from the living room before he could get back at her but once he’s alone again, he can’t stop thinking about all the things that Jenny said.

He did know all that before, he did, but there was something in the way Jenny said it that for the first time since they started this, he starts to wonder whether he and Tyler actually understood what they were getting into.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of wedding planning and weddings I put into my fics is truly alarming. 
> 
> I literally have a Pinterest board for weddings, you guys, and I, not only never had a wedding, but will probably not have one in like... ever. What has my life come to. Send help.
> 
> In other, less existential crisis-y news: I have no news, I haven't left my house in a week, there's truly _nothing_ happening. 
> 
> Comments? And stay safe, everyone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler knows he probably has no self-preservation instincts left.

**JORDIE**

Jordie realizes that he has never actually told Tyler why he wanted to quit his job and come back so much to Vancouver at the worst possible time.

He also has no idea how it never came up before. Like, Tyler was his best friend even before this whole engagement thing, not just some random person he picked up from the street – they talked a lot before, too, and they know things about each other and… Jordie just doesn’t understand how he never actually told Tyler this, he really doesn’t.

He also can’t really waste any time thinking about that because, as he said, it literally comes up at the worst time possible. 

“You write?” asks Tyler when Jordie makes an offhand comment about trying to finally finish editing his freaking novel that seems to be getting more and more out of hand as time goes on.

Jenny starts laughing but she stops when she sees that Tyler genuinely looks confused. All three Benns and Tyler are hanging out in the penthouse that first Sunday morning, waiting for the Chinese take-out they’ve ordered as a pseudo-brunch to finally arrive (or rather a super early lunch after waking up late) but other than that, they are not doing anything really substantial. Which also means that Tyler’s question naturally becomes the center of attention, and the hellhounds that are Jordie’s siblings, latch onto the topic immediately.

“You’re kidding, right?” Jenny asks when she stops laughing, and Tyler freezes.

“I…” he starts and looks at Jordie, a little panicky look that he tries to hide from the other Benns.

So now how is Jordie supposed to explain to his stupid sister and brother that his fiancé, the supposed love of his life, doesn’t actually know that Jordie’s biggest dream and life aspiration is to be a published writer and has been working on the next great Canadian novel since forever?

Somehow he doesn’t think this particular question is covered anywhere – not on lifestyle channels or in relationship advice columns and definitely not in any school curricula.

“Thanks, Jenny, that was supposed to be a secret,” Jordie says eventually, and hopes to God that Tyler will pick up on his cues.

“A secret?” Jamie asks, and now it’s him and Jenny who seem really confused all of a sudden. “Since when?”

“Since I still haven’t finished it and… I’m just feeling a little… lost with it,” he says finally and it doesn’t even make sense to _him_ so he slowly gives up on hoping that it will make sense to the others.

“So you didn’t tell your future husband that your life plan is to be a starving artist? Really, Jordie, we raised you better than this. A successful relationship is based on honest communication. This is the opposite of honest communication,” Jenny says with a grin on her face that Jordie is sure she created specifically to annoy him.

“And since when are you the expert on relationships Miss I-break-up-with-everyone-after-two-months-because-I-am-unable-to-commit?” 

And the grin is gone, mission accomplished. 

Except, maybe it’s a bit too accomplished because Jenny looks genuinely hurt and Jamie is doing his whole I’m-so-upset-with-you look and well, now Jordie feels bad – but at least, the fact that he forgot to tell Tyler his plans seems to be his smaller problem.

“Oh, so now, just because you waltzed back home with a fiancé no one has even heard about before you think you know everything about relationships?” Jenny says, and her voice is suddenly uncharacteristically dark.

Tyler and Jamie are pretending really hard that they are not even in the room anymore.

“Oh, come on, Jenny, you know I didn’t mean it like that…” Jordie starts, but Jenny waves him off.

“Maybe sometimes you should think before you speak, Jord, because one day you’ll piss someone off so bad that you can’t make it up to them,” she says and gets up from the couch. “Tell me when the food is here. And don’t you dare touch my spring rolls.”

And then she’s gone, and Jordie is sure that if they were still teenagers she would have banged the door to her room on her way out. Now, it’s a quieter affair but it hurts a bit more than when they were younger. Back then, they were able to blame it on the hormones, but now it’s just them being assholes – plain and simple.

“What’s up with her?” Jordie asks and looks over at Jamie.

“Couple of bad break ups and you being an asshole,” he says, and Jordie would sigh and roll his eyes and tell him to quit being overdramatic, but the really annoying thing about Jamie is that he’s somehow able to call someone an asshole while, at the same time, being convincing and earnest enough that you can’t even be upset with him for his honesty – because every time he does it, you know he’s right. 

It’s probably because he’s the baby of the family.

“Okay, whatever. I’ll be nice to her,” Jordie says eventually. “Anyway, anyone wants to come to the movies with me this afternoon? I’m craving something with explosions and a nonsense plot.”

The matching disgust on Jamie and Tyler’s face is enough of an answer, so Jordie holds up his hand in mock surrender. “Okay, I’m going to be my own date then. No one needs you, losers.”

“I was planning to go to the Aquarium actually, I haven’t been there in ages,” Jamie says, and yeah, no, Jordie wants to do something interesting with his life, thank you very much.

Tyler, on the other hand, perks up immediately. “Do they have otters?”

“Yeah, a lot, one of the highlights of the whole place, honestly. You can even watch them get food and everything, it’s super cool,” Jamie says and looks so happy to talk about his stupid animals, Jordie can’t help but smile at his excitement. The nerd.

“Can I tag along?” Tyler asks, and really, apparently they’re both finding out about each other’s hidden depths today because Jordie didn’t know Tyler was _that_ into animals.

But it’s actually a good thing. Jamie can keep him entertained like he did yesterday with the whole flower shopping shenanigan, and then Jordie wouldn’t have to worry about anything. If they become really good friends that would be perfect for everyone – now that he’s thinking about it. Because then Tyler could help Jamie with his gay crisis that Jordie is sure he’s been having since he was like 14 – he’s sure seeing an out and proud and happy gay guy could be beneficial for Jamie. And then Tyler would also be occupied: he’s in this whole new city and whole new country and Jordie would, of course, love to show him around and help him get settled in but Jordie also doesn’t really feel like acting as his babysitter when his novel is finally so close to being done. Really, he only needs a couple days of undisturbed peace and quiet where he could fully concentrate on polishing it up and then he could be ready and could go agent-hunting and all that exciting stuff.

This plan is still foolproof. Jordie is still so smart.

*

Jordie is getting ready to go down to the library (he gave up on going to the movies when he realized that Jamie and Tyler’s Aquarium nerd trip meant he finally could have that writing session he so badly missed in the past week) when Jenny comes out of her room.

She’s wearing full make-up and a nice summer dress and Jordie knows that Jenny is someone who would never leave the house not looking flawless (in his life he has spent a considerable amount of time on waiting for her to get ready, so really, he knows) – but he also knows the difference between Jenny being everyday flawless and Jenny being this-is-my-Sunday-best flawless. She’s clearly going on a date and Jordie knows they didn’t part on the best terms after their fight, but he can’t stop himself from letting out a low whistle.

“Going somewhere nice, dear sister of mine?” he asks and Jenny stops in front of his own door when he sees that Jordie spotted her.

She sighs and starts walking down the couple of steps of stairs that separate the living room from the rest of the penthouse.

“Don’t worry, the two months is not up just yet with this one,” she says and Jordie winces. She still takes a seat next to Jordie on the sofa, so Jordie doesn’t think she’s as mad at him as she was when she stormed away.

“I’m sorry, okay? You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I don’t know, I was teasing. But I know I took it too far, okay? I’ll stop, I promise,” he says eventually.

She looks up at Jordie, her face pensive – like she has a question and she thinks the answer is hidden somewhere deep in Jordie’s eyes.

“It’s alright, I know what you’re like,” she waves him off eventually and Jordie feels so relieved. He doesn’t like fighting with Jenny (absolutely _despises_ fighting with Jamie) and he’s glad they’re okay. “I guess I was angry at you because you are actually kind of… right, I guess.” 

“That must have hurt to say, eh?” Jordie says and she slaps him on his shoulder. Jordie doesn’t wince because he’s not going to obviously, but… augh, that actually did hurt. “What’s going on, Jen?”

She doesn’t answer for a bit, just throws her head back angrily on the sofa.

“It’s just…” she finally starts but she seems like she’s struggling to find the words. “Remember my friend, Abby?”

“The one with the big boobs?” Jordie asks immediately, and Jen looks at her with slightly raised eyebrows, and oh shit, yeah, he’s engaged to a guy – should probably not say stuff like that anymore.

“The one who moved across the country to be with her boyfriend instead of going to the college she really wanted to,” she says, ignoring Jordie’s comments.

Ah, that one. Yeah, Jordie does remember her (slightly smaller boobs but a nice, round face and a really pretty laugh) so he nods. (Jordie is not this shallow usually but all of Jen’s friends used to come around their place when he was like 15 so he thinks only remembering their looks was kind of inevitable at that age.)

“Anyway, do you remember how much I used to make fun of her? Or not really fun, but I was seriously upset with her for doing that back then. She was so smart and yeah, she and the boyfriend were like really in love but still, it was so stupid.”

Jordie just nods again. He doesn’t remember the story fully but he does have bits and pieces.

“Well, I saw her Instagram the other day. And she already has two beautiful kids and she’s also working this #dreamjob and…” she says and Jordie starts to think he knows where she’s going with it.

“According to her Instagram, Jen,” Jordie adds, but even he knows that hearing that will do nothing to lift Jen’s spirits.

“Still. I just can’t stop thinking that I’ve accomplished all these things, I’m respected and I know I do a damn good job and I’m not even 30 yet but… at the end of the day, I’m still coming back to an empty room and every date I seem to go on is a complete and utter failure. But again if I don’t go on them, then the room will just get emptier and emptier and… now you’re back in Vancouver, too, with your smoking hot fiancé and I just feel like everyone has someone and I’m still where I was, relationship-wise, where I was ten years ago,” she says and she sounds so bitter and sad that Jordie’s heart is promptly broken to a thousand pieces probably.

She remains quiet after that and her pretty dress and even prettier make-up paired with her sad words reminds Jordie of a Greek tragedy.

“You know you shouldn’t compare yourself to…” Jordie starts but Jenny just laughs, a little, bitter sound Jordie doesn’t want to hear ever again.

“I know, Jordie, and I try not to but it’s so _damn_ hard,” she says and yeah, there’s nothing Jordie can do, nothing he can say to make her feel better and it is kind of killing him.

He puts an arm around her shoulder and presses a little kiss on her hair. It smells nice – like peaches and wildflowers and it’s a little too sweet for Jordie but it smells so like Jenny that he can’t help but smile against her head.

“Tell me about your date then. Is he nice? Do I have to threaten him? Please, tell me he’s not a douche,” he says and Jenny laughs.

“His name is Paul and he seems different. He’s doing his PhD in some sort of neuroscience-y thing.”

“Wonderful, another nerd, exactly what our family needs,” Jordie says, his voice faux-annoyed but when Jenny pulls away and looks at him, he sees that she’s finally smiling again.

“Go and enjoy your date,” Jordie says then and gives Jen a little push towards the door. “Don’t keep him waiting, that’s just rude.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” she says and starts walking towards the door. She stops after she opens it, though, and looks back at Jordie.

“Thanks, Jord,” she says, and Jordie sends her a mock salute.

“Any time, dear sister of mine.”

And with that, Jenny is gone and Jordie is suddenly really glad he came home.

*

**TYLER**

Tyler knows he probably has no self-preservation instincts left.

He knew this when he asked Jamie if he could come with him. He knew this when he got into Jamie’s car and suffered through Jamie’s apparently terrible music taste consisting of some complete atrocity called Canadian country music. He knew this while they were driving, while they were parking and while they were in line for their tickets surrounded by bored looking moms and dads and screaming kids, all seemingly under the age of five. He also knew it while they were looking at the tropical fish and the frogs and the dolphins and even the rescued seals.

And he definitely, _definitely_ knows this right now as he’s listening to Jamie’s explanation on why otters hold hands.

Or to be exact, he might have _some_ sort of self-preservation left because the question “hey, want to hold hands like them” doesn’t leave his mouth throughout Jamie’s whole monologue even though he itches to say it. He totally has this under control, right?

Except… he clearly doesn’t and he is completely and utterly mortified with himself. He’s had crushes before, for fuck’s sake. Back in Greece when he was a kid, he had a crush on their neighbor, a tall and dark-haired boy who was way too old and way too straight for him. And in Manchester, he had crushes on at least three of the guys who went to the same school that he did. (All of them tall and dark-haired, too, and Tyler is not thinking about the implications behind that, not even poking it with a stick from a reasonable distance.)

He knows what crushes are like. He knows that they’re inexplicable and random and totally unreasonable most of the times. But, for crying out loud, he’s known Jamie for about two days now and apparently that time was enough for his mind to decide that he’s just completely gone on him and will start trembling like a 14-year-old girl at a One Direction concert every time Jamie even looks at him – God forbid he actually talks and pays attention to him and laughs. 

It’s been two days and Tyler is so fucking frustrated he could scream. He doesn’t mind crushes, he really doesn’t – what he minds is that the person he had to get a crush on is his fucking fiancé’s brother. How cliché is that, Tyler?

Honestly, if he could at least do the fair thing and be straight, then maybe Tyler could try to slowly get over him – just another hopeless crush on a straight guy. But now, Jamie had to go and be gay (okay, presumably gay, if he can believe Jordie and like half of their family) and Tyler is going to lose his mind.

Maybe he can get it out of his system. That’s his plan here actually; it was his reasoning (or justification because he clearly had no reasoning when he blurted the words out) behind immediately latching onto Jamie to accompany him to the freaking Aquarium: the strategy is to spend a lot of time with Jamie now so that he can get to know him and realize that his initial… interest or whatever is completely unfounded and illogical and then he can finally move on and happily marry Jordie. 

It’s a great plan. He’ll let himself have today, let himself feel everything and then he’ll shut this off and concentrate completely on wedding planning. Great strategy, Tyler.

Of course, while he’s losing his mind, he’s also totally paying attention to Jamie, as the multitasking genius he is. Also, he actually does want to know about the otters and their hand-holding shenanigans; he legitimately wanted to know that for a while now, and well, Professor Jamie is delivering here.

“Yeah, so it’s mostly so they don’t lose each other while sleeping. Because if they sleep while they’re on the open water then they’re more likely to stay protected from the predators who live on land. But then in the water it would be easy for them to drift apart from their family, so… that’s where the hand-holding comes in handy,” he says and Tyler snorts at his lame joke. It’s ridiculously adorable and Tyler has about 12 hours left to appreciate it without feeling guilty – he’ll appreciate every stupid joke Jamie will make.

“So do they just hold hands with any random otter, though?” Tyler asks as they’re watching the otters floating on the water in front of them.

Jamie shakes his head. “No, it’s only family. Mostly their mate, because males are always afraid that their mates will get stolen away by another male, especially if the female population is smaller,” he says.

“Well, I can’t relate to that,” Tyler says and now it’s Jamie’s turn to laugh at him.

“They seem so peaceful,” Tyler says eventually after they spend a couple minutes just standing there in complete silence, watching the otters float. 

“This is why I love the Aquarium. It’s always so calm,” Jamie agrees, and just then completely on cue, a shrieking 5-year old runs past them like the human velociraptor he’s probably pretending he is.

Tyler bursts out laughing and Jamie blushes. “Well, apart from that,” he adds.

“Okay, I have my otter dose filled for the next couple weeks. Any other exciting places here?” Tyler asks.

“Well, there’s one place I always go to here,” Jamie says and he looks a little shy again. “If you want to see, I can show you my favorite place here.”

“Lead on, Jamie,” Tyler says.

Like he could ever say no to Jamie Benn. Like he would ever want to.

(Tomorrow. He’ll say all the no’s tomorrow.)

*

“Jelly fish,” Tyler says as they stop in the middle of the dark room. Freaking jelly fish.

He didn’t think his crush was able to grow bigger – he really thought he’s already hit max – but now Jamie is looking at jellyfish and he looks like Christmas came early and Tyler just…

He can’t do anything. He lost control. Goodbye. Adios. Say you later, alligator.

“Jellies are always so peaceful,” Jamie says and he looks at Tyler, clearly waiting for some sort of acknowledgement, so Tyler quickly diverts his attention back to the jellyfish because he kind of forgot that he was supposed to look at those and not Jamie. Honest mistake, really, could have happened to any mere mortal.

“Yeah, I could look at them all day,” and really, Tyler might just survive this whole outing if he says everything that pops into his mind about Jamie and just exchanges his name with jellyfish.

Jellyfish are so beautiful – he could spend his whole day just looking at jellyfish. They’re lovely and kind and funny and Tyler would very much like to run his hand through… Okay maybe, not all his thoughts then. It was still a fairly good idea.

“Tyler?” Jamie asks suddenly – or maybe it’s not that sudden, maybe it’s only Tyler who has spaced out in the middle of writing an ode to Jamie’s existence.

It’s just a stupid crush, Tyler, can you at least try getting over it?

“Oh, sorry, what did you say?”

Jamie looks at him for a couple seconds, looking almost confused before he answers. “Nothing important. We might want to head back; I don’t know when they close actually.”

Oh. Yeah, Jamie has better things to do probably. Tyler should have known that – he has to get more considerate of other’s people lives and priorities. Jamie has things to do and Tyler needs to get more self-control. Today way a brief lapse in his judgement – it won’t happen again. It can’t.

“Sure,” he says and Jamie nods, too, and they start heading to the exit and Tyler doesn’t know why the afternoon suddenly feels weird and awkward and just somehow off – but it does, all those things and Tyler doesn’t like it but Jamie is not even looking at him as they walk out so he can’t even apologize or ask him what he did wrong, so he just keeps on walking.

But then their car ride home is fairly normal again, and by the time they get back, Jamie is back to his usual self, talking with Tyler about non-important things in his calm and quiet voice, so maybe there’s nothing wrong. Maybe everything is perfectly fine. Maybe it’s only Tyler, as usual, who sees things in places where there’s absolutely nothing to be seen.

He won’t let this happen again. He can’t afford to.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love is appreciated, comments are appreciated and sending me a million dollars is also appreciated. 
> 
> Any guesses on how many non-dates I can send Tyler and Jamie on before Tyler combusts? I almost feel sorry for him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordie might not be marrying the love of his life but he’s still marrying one of the best people he knows – and he thinks it makes him one really lucky man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mentions of past physical abuse and homophobia; description of panic attack

**TYLER**

It’s not that Tyler is afraid of lawyers. He’s just… not really keen on meeting with the lawyers. It’s nothing personal, okay? They’re just a little intimidating. That’s a good word. Tyler’s not afraid – he’s just intimidated.

“If you guys want to get married this summer then you better start figuring out what you need as soon as possible,” Jenny says that Sunday night when Jamie and Tyler finally come back from the Aquarium and Jordie managed to find his way home from his creative endeavor in the library (his words, not Tyler’s).

“Well, in August I have like two writer’s workshops that I want to do, so really, we should try to get it done in July,” Jordie chimes in as he’s looking at his calendar on his phone.

“Get it done – really, Jordie? Way to be enthusiastic about our wedding day,” Tyler snorts.

“I’m like super enthusiastic about marrying you but I can be enthusiastic _and_ conscious of the logistics of the other aspects of my life at the same time, sweetheart.”

“I already want a divorce, pumpkin,” Tyler deadpans and Jenny looks like she’s thoroughly enjoying their conversation. Tyler would put money on Jamie snickering as well, but he has his back to their conversation as he is cooking some dinner for the whole bunch of them. Apparently, Jamie is the only Benn who is allowed to use the kitchen in the apartment and one day Tyler will ask them how that rule came to be because knowing these idiots, he’s sure there’s a good story behind that. Or maybe Jamie is just a great cook. Tyler is sure that he is. Jamie is a great everything.

“Why can’t you help us? You’re a lawyer,” Jordie says and looks at Jenny.

“You do realize I’m criminal defense attorney, Jord? So unless one of you is planning to murder the other…”

“I volunteer,” Tyler chimes in and Jordie rolls his eyes.

“… then you should call Fitzy and Lauren. I’m pretty sure they can set everything up for you guys if you call them,” Jenny says and Tyler doesn’t know why that seems to be so funny to her but her eyes are definitely shining with held back laughter.

“You’re evil,” Jordie groans.

Okay, Tyler is definitely missing something here.

“Why is that so bad?” he asks when he realizes that no one is going to tell him the story.

“Oh, it’s nothing really. Just that Fitzy and Lauren have already handled some… delicate matters for Jordie,” Jen says and now she’s outright laughing.

Tyler is still confused. “Do I want to know?”

“Definitely not,” Jordie says before Jenny could say anything and sends her a very serious death glare.

“Honest communication, Jord,” she says with a cryptid smile and yeah, Jordie is now definitely shoving her sister off the couch and you know what? Jamie is surely in need of a sous-chef, bye, guys.

*

Jordie does end up calling this mysterious duo of Fitzy and Lauren who, upon hearing the situation, decide that an immediate meeting on Monday morning is completely necessary for them to attend, no, Benn, it is not optional. Jordie does not look happy after the conversation.

Jenny was also not kidding when he said that Fitzy and Lauren have handled some delicate matters for Jordie in the past because the moment Tyler and Jordie walk into their office (spacious, expensive, everything leather-covered, the level of rich that Tyler is slowly starting to understand comes with anything the Benns do), Fitzy, a 30-something well-dressed, dark skinned guy with a buzzcut, crooks an eyebrow at Jordie and asks, without even saying hi first, “Got into any bar fights lately, Bennie?”

But before Tyler could even ask, Fitzy starts laughing, while Lauren, also 30-something, impossibly tall and strict-looking, just rolls her eyes visibly in the background. “It’s okay, Jordie, we all know that’s all in the past and you’re much more responsible now, right? I mean, you’re about to become a married man, you ought to be,” he grins as he indicates them to come inside the office and sit down.

“Oh come on. That was… ages ago, I really did grow up,” Jordie sighs and Tyler is not being judgmental or anything but both Fitzy and Lauren look like they believe exactly zero words that Jordie is saying. 

“Anyway, this is Tyler, you guys, my fiancé.”

Fitzy and Lauren (and it’s not like they don’t seem to have their own personalities or anything, but they clearly work as a unit, so they very quickly become Fitzy&Lauren in Tyler’s head) turn out to be really cool people actually who also happen to be great at their job, too, and by the time everyone gets settled down with coffees and teas, they have already laid out everything they needed to do on the table in front of them.

“Okay, first things first, before we get into any of the marriage license or pre-nup things, we have one very important question,” Lauren says and Tyler suddenly feels that his guards are going up again. “Are you guys marrying for real or do we have to worry about getting caught for marriage fraud?”

“Lauren,” Jordie starts and Tyler’s glad he’s talking because he doesn’t think that he could actually form words, he’s so stunned. “Why would you…”

“Quit the bullshit. To be completely clear, I don’t mind either of the options. If you guys are all happy and in love, I’m going to be thrilled,” she says in a completely flat voice, “but if you guys are doing this for other reasons, that’s also not up to me to condone. But you would make our jobs a hell of a lot easier, if you told me the real reason to know what we’re facing potentially.”

Jordie and Tyler share a look. They can’t really ask for a time-out, can they?

“It’s…” Jordie starts and he almost denies it on instinct but then it seems to dawn on him what’s happening in front of him. “Okay. It’s a mixture of both? Like we decided on doing this because Tyler’s US visa expired and I wanted him to come with me?” he says eventually, and Tyler wonders if he should mind that Jordie told them all this, but he finds that he’s agreeing with Jordie on this. They have this married telepathic bond down pat.

Lauren doesn’t seem to be happy with Jordie’s answer, though, and nor does Fitzy.

“Okay, great start. But are you in love? Or are you only doing this just to bring Tyler here? And please, be honest with me. I’m not going to run to your grandfather to tell him but we do need to know,” she sighs, with an air of resignation in her voice.

Well, that’s not going according to plan, is it?

Jordie is looking at Tyler, clearly not knowing what to answer, so it’s Tyler who opens his mouth.

“It’s not real,” he says and he’s still looking at Jordie. “How much trouble is Jordie going to be in if it gets out?”

Fitzy and Lauren share a look quietly. It’s Fitzy who leans forward in his chair and does the talking after they are done with communicating with their eyebrows. “To be completely honest? Potentially a lot, but there’s also a really small chance of this ever getting out.”

Jordie seems to be surprised to hear that and Tyler can’t fault him for it – his face is mirroring the same surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Look, I’m definitely not advising you to do this, because frankly? It’s stupid, Jordie. But you guys are already here and you look like you’re actually willing to go through with this, so I’m guessing you have your reasons for it. But getting a marriage license is not that hard for a foreigner, especially because you guys seem to be actually smart about it. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but not even your family knows, right?” he asks and when they shake their head, he continues. “Keep that up. As I said, getting the license is not that hard, especially considering your situation. After that the spousal sponsorship for citizenship is going to be child play.”

“Our situation?” Tyler asks.

“That you’re European and that you guys are in a gay relationship,” Lauren says. “They usually don’t care when the foreigner is European, and whether that’s down to like systematic racism, I don’t know and let’s not get into that. The fact that you guys are gay, or whatever, also makes it way easier because it makes it obvious why you would want to come here instead of going back to… Greece, was it? Gay marriage is not even legal there, correct?”

Tyler nods and he thinks he’s getting where she’s coming from. “Honestly, I would expect like one meeting with a CIC officer – that’s basically the governmental body that handles all immigration things here in Canada, Tyler – but even that would be more of a formality. If you can act like a couple for that one meeting, then I don’t see any other problems – I mean, if you continue not to flaunt it around.”

“That… seems even easier than I thought it would be. So how long would it take? Because we’re hoping to get it done this summer, preferably July,” Jordie says.

“That’s doable – we can get the documents and the appointment done in two weeks, maybe one even. If you guys are still sure that you want to do this,” Lauren says.

And Jordie looks at Tyler like he’s asking _him_ whether he’s sure, and not the other way around. “I’m sure – if you’re sure, too,” Tyler says eventually, his voice lower, and he thinks he finally understands how Fitzy and Lauren got to where they are this young, because they immediately pretend to have their own conversation, giving Tyler and Jordie as much space as possible, even though they’re only sitting maybe two feet away from them. It’s all very discreet and professional.

“I am, Tyler. You know, I am. I promised we’d get through this together.”

And Tyler might still be afraid that they could get caught, and he might still be afraid that his infatuation with Jamie could ruin him in the long run, but he’s sure about one thing: if Jordie and he are on the same page, they can walk through fire together – because frankly, that’s what friends are capable of.

“What do we need to do?” Jordie asks and when Fitzy puts a stack of paper in front of them, Tyler can’t help but smile.

*

**JORDIE**

Tyler lasts exactly two minutes after their meeting before he starts interrogating Jordie.

“So…” he starts and Jordie knows _exactly_ what he wants.

“Can we ignore that, please?” he tries, and decides to concentrate on backing out from the parking spot instead.

“Oh sure,” Tyler says and Jordie almost can’t believe his luck, but then he continues, “just don’t call me the next time you get into a bar fight.”

Of course, he wouldn’t let it go. Seriously, Tyler has perfected the role of an annoying husband already, and they’re not even married.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal, okay? It was a… misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding,” and seriously, Jordie is almost reconsidering this engagement because that tone, Jesus, that tone could drive Jordie absolutely crazy if he would really have to listen to that until their dying days. “I also usually end up in bar fights when I have a misunderstanding with someone.”

“Okay, it was maybe a bit more than that,” Jordie allows as they finally turn onto the street.

“I’m all ears, Jord,” he says and Jordie sighs.

“It was at least five years ago, okay? I was still in college and I was… a bit more of an idiot than I am now,” Jordie says and he knows Tyler is seriously interested in this because he doesn’t even say anything remotely sarcastic to that. “I might have even been… a bit of an asshole.”

“Are we talking, like, asshole on occasions when you drank a bit too much, or a brainwashed privileged asshole that thinks he deserves better treatment than the rest of the peasants who walk on this Earth and who also gets physical about it?” Tyler asks, voice completely nonchalant.

“I… maybe the second type?” Jordie winces but Tyler’s words were actually painfully accurate.

Tyler is silent for a bit, looking out the car window. “And I’m guessing if the lawyers got you out of the situation than you got away scot-free?”

Okay, Jordie is definitely not enjoying this conversation anymore. “20 hours of community service,” he says and he waits for Tyler’s disapproval but it doesn’t come.

“Are you mad at me?” Jordie asks finally when he can’t take the silence anymore.

When Tyler looks at him, he almost looks surprised, like he was not even paying attention to him – like he was thinking about something else. “Mad?”

“For being an entitled asshole? I remember the absolute endless lecture I got from Jenny and I know I deserved it. The other guy got like a hundred hours and it wasn’t even him who started it,” and Jordie doesn’t know why he’s saying it like that, why he’s basically making Tyler be upset with him. 

Maybe he just wants to make sure that Tyler knows what he’s getting into. After their meeting with the lawyers and their license appointment already set up, Jordie suddenly feels like everything just got about ten times more serious.

But maybe he just doesn’t know Tyler as well as he thinks he does because when he answers, he completely surprises Jordie.

“Oh, I mean, yeah, you were stupid. But like, I don’t think it’s up to me to hold it over your head forever. And you’re doing, like, a really selfless thing for me right now, so I think I ought to judge your character based on that, and not on something you did five years ago and that you clearly regret. You’re not the same person, Jord, and I’m willing to believe my eyes,” Tyler says and it’s not like Jordie doesn’t agree with him but he’s still surprised.

The road is jammed in front of them and Jordie settles in for the long ride because they clearly caught the lunch hour rush. When he looks over Tyler, he’s already looking at him, looking like he’s thinking hard about something else.

“In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad,” Tyler says eventually, and Jordie doesn’t know if he’s reminding himself or Jordie or the both of them. “You would never do that again, right? You would never lift a hand at someone else?”

And Jordie sees something in Tyler’s eyes, something dark lurking as an inexplicable shadow, so he chooses his words with extra care. “Never, Tyler. I would never hit anyone.”

It seems to be enough for Tyler, and when he leans towards the radio to try to find an acceptable music station, he looks normal again.

Jordie might not be marrying the love of his life but he’s still marrying one of the best people he knows – and he thinks it makes him one really lucky man.

*

**TYLER**

The nightmare is almost expected (like expected in a way that Tyler literally went to sleep knowing one would come, the annoying inevitability he can’t seem to get rid of no matter how much time passes) but Tyler can barely hold back a cry when he wakes up and sees that he’s not alone in the dark room.

It takes him about five seconds to remember that it’s Jordie and that he’s okay and there’s nothing to be afraid of; but those five seconds are still completely and utterly terrifying. Even more terrifying then his nightmare was – because in those five seconds he knew for certain that he was not dreaming and that there _was_ someone there and that was scarier than anything he could dream about.

He doesn’t even try to fall back asleep after that. He doesn’t think he could and he is certain that he doesn’t actually want to, so he heads toward the balcony again and this time he genuinely hopes that it’s going to be empty because he doesn’t want to see anyone.

He gets comfortable under one of the blankets he brought out from the living room and he’s glad that when he looks up there are no stars visible. He’s not in Greece and he’s not in his mom’s house and he’s not there with him – nowhere close to him. He’s safe, tucked away in the middle of Vancouver on the other side of the world and he has nothing to worry about. 

“Are you okay?” he hears Jamie ask, and his voice is coming from so close that Tyler can’t help but jump as far away as he possibly can.

His heart is beating like crazy, up in his throat, and he knows it’s just Jamie but he still can’t seem to breathe normally – he tries to inhale, tries to count out seconds, tries everything he has learnt, but it doesn’t seem to be working at all, and he realizes that’s he’s hyperventilating but he can’t stop it.

“Tyler,” Jamie says and he sounds scared but firm at the same time. “Tyler, look at me, please.” 

And Tyler does but he doesn’t know how that could help.

“I’m going to touch your hand now, okay? I’m here with you, and there’s nothing wrong,” Jamie keeps saying and his voice is a steady stream of monotone sounds that Tyler latches onto as he feels him take his hand in his. It’s warm and little sweaty and Tyler tries to concentrate on the feel of Jamie’s warm skin under his fingers instead of his ragged breathing. “Can you try to match my breathing? Breathe in,” he says and he breathes in and Tyler tries to follow, “hold it, hold it, hold it. Now, try to exhale.”

And Tyler doesn’t know how much time passes while he is trying to match Jamie’s breathing, while he’s trying to comply with Jamie’s words, but the world around him and the thunder within him seems to be slowing down, gradually, with every passing minute.

Jamie is still holding his hand, keeping it in firmly his and he’s drawing little circles into his skin where his hand and his wrist meet.

“Are you feeling better?” he whispers, and Tyler nods because that’s all he can do. “Can you sit down and wait for me until I get you some water?” 

Tyler nods again, so Jamie slowly lets go of his hand and heads inside but he’s right back in what feels like mere seconds and he carefully passes a glass of cold water to Tyler.

“Drink,” he tells him quietly, and Tyler does as he’s told.

They sit like that for a little, side by side, not saying anything, barely even moving, apart from the slow sips that Tyler is taking occasionally.

By the time Tyler completely calms down, he knows that he has to tell Jamie something, that he has to provide some sort of explanation here but he doesn’t even know where to start.

“Jordie and I met with the lawyers this morning,” he says eventually. He knows that Jamie already knows this because he and Jordie told both Jamie and Jenny everything that happened with the lawyers while they were eating their dinner together.

“Did anything happen there?” Jamie asks when Tyler doesn’t continue.

Tyler takes a deep breath. His lung still feels a little sore but he can finally breath normally. “They told me about his bar fight.”

“It was a very stupid thing. He changed, though, he would never do something like that again,” Jamie says and Tyler believed Jordie when he said the same thing, he really did – but it still feels nice to hear it from someone else, too.

“I know. It’s just brought up a bad memory,” Tyler says and he feels that Jamie stiffens next to him. He doesn’t say anything, though, just waits for Tyler to continue.

“I… you remember that I said that I lived with my dad in Manchester for a bit?” he asks and Jamie nods. “Well, there was a reason for that. And there was a reason for me running away to the States, too. My mom…. After the divorce both my parents remarried, but I stayed with my mom because my dad got a job in England and I wanted to stay in Greece. But my mom’s new boyfriend… he was okay, I guess, at first. Like while they were only dating, he was almost fun to hang out with. But when he moved in, things started to change, and when he started to figure out that I was gay, it… got bad,” Tyler says and he hears his voice break while he’s saying that and he hates that he gets like this when he’s talking about this because he’s over this and he doesn’t…

Jamie takes his hand.

He takes his right hand with his left and fits his fingers into the spaces between his fingers and Tyler – Tyler can’t think about anything else suddenly. He continues on almost autopilot.  
“He hit me one night. I was 14 and he caught me looking at pictures of guys and… He hit me.”

Jamie is still holding onto his hand.

“I told my mom. And she didn’t believe me.”

Jamie’s skin is hot and Tyler doesn’t understand why because the night is surprisingly chilly around them.

“But then she told me that I could go and live with my dad if I so wanted to. So I left and moved in with him and it was fine for a couple years but he met his new wife and they started planning their new life together, new baby, new house, and then Brexit happened, too, so they decided to move to Germany after my graduation. And they, well, they offered me to come with them but I thought that… I was grown up, I could go home and stand up for myself. But… I went back and… my mom’s new husband was still there and when he saw me… it was bad again, immediately, and I couldn’t… I was never able to stand up for myself, so I left before he could do anything again. And my mom still didn’t believe me, so I decided to move away, to go to Athens maybe. But then my uncle who lived in the States asked me if I wanted to go there and help look after his kids. Because he wanted someone who he trusted and, you know, someone who could also talk to the kids in Greek, too, and it was good for a couple months, really good, but then he lost his job, and really, doesn’t that seem just so unfair? And after that, well after that I was supposed to come home, you know, but… to where? To Greece? To Germany? No one wanted me in those places, not really. So I decided to stay and… yeah, now I’m here,” Tyler finishes and he doesn’t even know why he even told the whole story to Jamie when parts of it would have been enough but now he can’t take it back – and really, does he even want to?

“I’m so sorry, Tyler. You didn’t deserve any of that,” Jamie says eventually and Tyler appreciates it but he knows there’s nothing anyone could say that would change anything for him.

They’re still holding hands but it doesn’t feel like a crazy rush anymore – just a steady contact, a vast expanse of skin under Tyler’s own skin.

“Can I ask you something?” Tyler says and he finally looks up at Jamie who’s already looking at him.

“Anything,” Jamie says.

“Can you… not say anything to Jordie about this?”

Jamie hesitates. “He doesn’t know?”

Tyler shakes his head. “And I don’t want him to. I know, honest communication and all that, I heard Jenny, too, but… I’m not broken and I don’t want him, or you for that matter, to treat me like that. I got out early and it wasn’t… I’m okay now and I want to forget that so, just, can you promise me that you won’t tell him?”

And Jamie still seems unsure, still looks like he wants to say something but he nods eventually. “If you don’t want me to, then I won’t.”

And Jamie always looks earnest but in that moment, he manages to somehow even look more earnest so Tyler doesn’t waste a second on not believing him. 

“Well, now you will also have to tell me your biggest secret. It’s only fair, you know,” Tyler says jokingly to ease the air around them but Jamie doesn’t laugh. “I mean… you don’t have to… I was just joking, you…”

“Maybe I’ll tell you one day,” Jamie says, interrupting him in the middle of his sentence and he looks determined – and now, now Tyler has no idea what to think anymore.

“I’ll be here to listen,” he says eventually.

Jamie is still looking at him, though, eyes all intense in the dark. “Tyler, I…”

“Yeah?”

“We want you to be here.”

Tyler knows he’s only saying it because of what Tyler said earlier but it does sound nice. Tyler doesn’t believe him, because really, Jamie has known him for three days, why _would_ he want him to be there – but it’s nice of him. Very nice of him.

They’re still holding hands but neither of them points that out.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 Thank you so much for your continuous support, guys! I know WIPs can be frustrating and people are always afraid that they're not going to be finished - but I really appreciate that so many of you took a chance on this story and are still cheering these idiots on during their, arguably, very slow journey. You guys are truly the best.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler should also spend a little time on figuring out how his life came to the point where he’s either acting out the parts of Holly Golightly or Vivian Ward. There are some quite obvious conclusions right there that maybe he should, like, conclude for himself.

**TYLER**

There’s one good thing that comes out of Tyler’s middle-of-the-night breakdown to Jamie: he thinks he can finally give up on his stupid crush. 

Okay, he can’t just _give up_ on it, but now that Jamie sees that Tyler is a complete mess, Tyler can finally feel that he has absolutely zero fucking chance with him – which, no matter how weird it sounds, feels actually quite liberating. He still finds Jamie incredibly nice to look at and he would still probably sell half of his kidney to make him laugh – but his crush entered the territory of being completely unrequited and it _does_ make it easier to deal with.

It’s also great timing because (and Tyler doesn’t know what strings Fitzy and Lauren pulled) their appointment for the marriage license and fraud screening (or whatever it is) is coming up super quickly on Friday. So it’s time for Tyler to act like he’s totally in love with Jordie and he feels that he can’t really do that while he’s thinking about Jamie’s eyes.

“They’re not going to ask us to, like, make out, right?” Jordie asks as they’re walking into the building where their appointment is taking place.

Tyler is marrying an idiot. “Why would they ask us to make out? What is it do you think they’re looking for? Porn stars?”

“Well, no, but I just don’t get how we’re supposed to convince them that we’re in love and shit.”

“Maybe don’t say that we’re in love and shit? I think that’s a good start,” Tyler says and Jordie sighs.

They take their seats in front of the office when the receptionist tells them to wait and Tyler wasn’t relaxed when they came in (they are committing the exact fraud they’re being screened for, so that’s not exactly super chill) but Jordie’s fidgeting is making him even more anxious.

“Can you stop, please? They’re going to see that we’re anxious and that’s going to make it really suspicious. Just pretend that it’s only a small bureaucratic step in our grand love story and we’ll be fine.”

And no matter how confident he tries to sound, Tyler’s heart still skips a beat when they are actually asked to go in. The office is finally a normal-looking one – a dusty room with file cabinets and a big desk crammed into a little space, barely leaving any room for the two chairs that Tyler and Jordie take after introductions. The CIC officer is woman, maybe in her 50s and she spends a couple seconds quickly looking through the file that Fitzy and Lauren put together for them. It weirdly relaxes Tyler – he thinks that if the government was on their backs, the lady would probably already know about their case and wouldn’t have to revise it.

“So, Tyler, you’re not using your birth name, right?” she asks. “I… am not even sure I know how to pronounce that, I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, it’s Greek,” Tyler laughs. “That’s the reason I usually use Tyler, it’s easier for the English-speaking folks.”

“And… which of these names do you use?” she looks at Jordie and Tyler is glad that he’s also relaxed enough to let out a little chuckle.

“It’s Jordie. My parents believed that I, for sure, needed three first names to exist,” he says and the officer smiles a little.

“Okay, let’s start with an easy question then: where did you guys meet?”

Jordie looks at Tyler like he’s asking if he wants to take this one – so Tyler launches into their elaborate love story. They decided to stick to their original meeting as much as possible in order to avoid slipping up. The only significant change they made was the time of their first meeting because, apparently, getting engaged after two months of dating does not seem like the most thought-out decision – but apart from that one small-ish change, they stick to the convenience store and the hockey games and the beer.

“I didn’t even realize we were on a date – I mean, I was hoping he was gay, naturally, just look at him – but then at the end of the night he asked me to share a milkshake with him and well, I just knew that he wanted it as much as I did,” Jordie is saying and Tyler is hoping his grin looks in love and not like he thinks that that is the funniest fucking thing Tyler has ever heard.

“And right then and there, you know, I just knew. My team was winning – they were winning in a shutout, of all things – and I barely even looked at the screen you know, because I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. I just knew that I met my pair, my other half,” Tyler adds and he sees that Jordie’s mouth is slightly trembling and he prays to all the Gods not to let him start laughing at Tyler’s words.

The CIC officer looks slightly confused – but fortunately, not like she’s not believing them. “That’s… very romantic,” she says in the end, and Tyler is very certain that she means the exact opposite of that.

She asks them a bunch of other questions, too, about birthdays and what they did for Christmas together, and how meeting with the family went (Jordie’s family loved Tyler even though his grandparents still need to warm up to the idea of their grandson being gay, and Jordie only met Tyler’s family over Skype but they seem very nice and are very much looking forward to finally meeting him – which is not a complete lie, Jordie did say hi to his dad when Tyler was on the phone with him once). And really, not to gloat or anything, but Tyler thinks they’re basically passing the test with flying colors.

Until the next question, naturally.

“So does your partner have any tattoos?” the officer asks and she looks like she thinks it’s an easy question but then both Tyler and Jordie just freeze up.

And Tyler doesn’t even know why they’re reacting like that because both of them literally have full-sleeves for the whole world to see – the answer seems to be fucking obvious. It should be fucking obvious. But then neither of them actually knows how those sleeves end and what their other body parts are hiding because well, they don’t really spend a lot of time naked together, why _would_ they – even though, shit, they probably should be, as long as the lady is concerned, they should be spending _a lot_ of time naked together. 

But before the lady could give voice to her confusion, Tyler blurts out the only thing that he can think of. 

“My favorite tattoo of his is high up on his left inner thigh.”

And Jordie chokes on nothing, and the lady looks properly scandalized and Tyler doesn’t even know where it came from, and Jesus, Tyler, it wasn’t even the lady’s question, what is _wrong_ with you. He is mortified – utterly mortified. He doesn’t want to be thinking about Jordie’s left inner thigh and he doesn’t want the lady to think about him thinking about Jordie’s left inner thigh – but maybe Tyler should think before he starts talking and then no one would have to think about Jordie’s left fucking inner thigh.

The interview doesn’t last for a long time after that and the stamp that says ‘approved’ on their marriage license is almost still wet when they are exiting the building.

“I… I don’t know whether to be proud of you or think you’re the biggest idiot this world has even seen,” Jordie says finally when they’re already sitting in Jordie’s car.

Tyler wishes he knew the answer to that question.

“You still want to marry this idiot?” he asks eventually, and he smiles when Jordie snorts.

“You’re the only idiot in this world I want to marry,” he says eventually and when Tyler starts fake-cooing at his world, he lets out a resigned sigh. “Why do I even try?”

“Because I’m the only idiot in this world you want to marry.”

“I guess,” Jordie says, feigning irritation. “You want to go ring shopping before going to Friday night dinner?”

“There’s nothing that would make me happier in this world. Maybe a latte.”

*

They go to freaking Tiffany’s. 

Like, Tyler knew Jordie wouldn’t go to like a pawn shop or one of the smaller jewelers because Jordie is rich and Jordie’s decided to blow an unnecessary amount of money on his big fake gay immigrant wedding to spite his own grandfather who set up the very trust fund he’s now using to pay for their wedding – and if Jordie decides on something, then that thing very clearly gets done.

It’s still freaking Tiffany’s. Tyler did not wake up today to act as Audrey fucking Hepburn but really, it’s all his fault – he should have expected ring-shopping with Jordie to be exactly like that.

Tyler should also spend a little time on figuring out how his life came to the point where he’s either acting out the parts of Holly Golightly or Vivian Ward. There are some quite obvious conclusions right there that maybe he should, like, conclude for himself.

The assistant at Tiffany’s is slightly skeptical with them at first – both of them are wearing plaid shirts and jeans and Jordie still hasn’t shaved his beard, probably also to spite his grandparents – so like Tyler gets where he’s coming from, but he also finds it slightly hypocritical how the assistant’s attitude completely changes when Jordie mentions money ‘not being a question’ after asking about their price range.

“Do you want to look at the more classic bands, gentlemen? Or are you picturing a ring that’s more of a statement?”

And Tyler doesn’t want to act like he’s dirt-poor or something (like, he guesses he’s kind of a kept man at the moment but it’s not like he had to beg on the streets or something before this whole circus) but he has absolutely zero idea what the guy even means by ‘more of a statement’.

“Love?” Jordie turns to him with a grin on his face. “Do you want some bling?”

“Only if you want it, too, sweet pea. I’m more of a traditional kind of guy, you know that,” Tyler says, and tries really hard not to laugh when Jordie starts telling the assistant how, naturally, they are both incredibly traditional and how Jordie just doesn’t seem to understand all these people who mock the sanctity of marriage these days. He decides to leave them to take a look at the rings when Jordie gets into how much they both have been looking forward to their ‘special day’ for years now to the growing discomfort of the assistant, and really, Tyler would feel sorry for him if it wasn’t the most hilarious thing he has ever heard. They are both terrible people.

The bands he’s looking at are all very pretty – but it’s Tiffany’s, so again, he’s not surprised in the slightest. Most of them are covered in diamonds or other shiny stones (Tyler doesn’t actually know the difference between diamonds and fancy stones, how do people actually know that? They’re all shiny) and if Tyler is being honest, he’s not entirely sold on these ‘blings’ or ‘statement pieces’ or whatever. He understands they’re pretty but wearing those every single day on your hand that you have to be using for a bunch of different shit? Tyler would be so worried of, like, banging a diamond while he’s brushing his teeth or cooking or something.

“See anything you like?” Jordie asks, appearing next to Tyler, this time sans the annoying assistant.

“I’m going to sound incredibly ungrateful but no, nothing I like, actually,” he says, and he’s happy that he and Jordie are already past literally any boundaries that could still be up between them as friends (getting engaged to your best friend to avoid the authorities seems to have that effect) because he’s not afraid in the slightest that Jordie will take his words badly.

“I mean, we can always go to Cartier, they have nice stuff, too,” Jordie says and Tyler is just going to ignore that Jordie described Cartier as the place that has nice stuff.

“No, I just… I want something simple?”

“Like, just a band? But that’s… so simple,” Jordie says but he also grins when he realizes what he said. “Okay, well, if you want that, I’m okay with that, too.”

“I mean, we should come up with a compromise, it’s not just my wedding, Jord.”

Jordie looks at him with a curious look. “Tyler, you do realize that I absolutely do not care about our wedding bands, right? And I know you do, and that’s, like, great because that means we’ll have something that you’ll like, but I would marry you with paper rings and all.”

Tyler is almost taken aback for a second. “That was so romantic, dude.”

“That was a really great line, dammit, I’m wasting all my romantic shit on you, you idiot,” Jordie says and then they are both laughing because that conversation right there? Truly ridiculous, even for them.

“And just so you know, I totally know that you took that from a Taylor Swift song,” Tyler says as they walk back towards the assistant.

“Well, you don’t have to invent the wheel once it’s been done and all,” Jordie says.

“That… is not how that phrase goes, please tell me you know that.”

Jordie waves him off. “Sure, sure,” and then he turns to the assistant who’s been probably listening to their last sentence, looking completely dumbfounded. “Can we look at some of the more simple bands, please? With less diamonds?”

“No diamonds,” Tyler chimes in.

“No diamonds at all?” Jordie asks, and really, for someone who literally just said that he gives no shit about their wedding rings ten seconds ago, he almost seems sad at the complete lack of diamond.

“Nope.”

“Well. The heart wants what it wants,” Jordie sighs.

*

**JORDIE**

The bands are probably the most basic wedding bands that Tiffany’s sells but Tyler loves them. Jordie’s only consolation is that they do end up choosing two sets of rings – one set for the engagement and one set for the actual ceremony and Tyler did okay some diamonds in the engagement rings. The store also happens to have the exact right sizes for them for the engagement rings (white gold bands with two rows of diamonds nestled in the middle) so Jordie is adamant on them buying and wearing those, effective immediately. 

“You see Jordie? The world doesn’t need to know about our love if we know about it,” Tyler says and Jordie doesn’t want to laugh because the assistant is still standing there and he doesn’t think he should be laughing at his fiancé when he says something like that but… he doesn’t think it’s possible for him not to laugh, considering their situation and all.

“Why does it even matter to you so much?” he asks eventually, though, because he does find Tyler’s adamancy curious. He knew Tyler wanted nice wedding bands and a nice wedding but he didn’t think it was that important to him. “I mean… it’s all fake.”

The assistant has disappeared to look something up for them so he doesn’t even have to worry about being overheard.

“I know. Don’t worry, I’m not falling in love with you, Jord,” Tyler says with an amused smile and it’s not like Jordie was actively worrying about that but he does find hearing that reassuring. “But it’s about the principle, you know? I don’t think I’m getting another wedding, neither fake nor real, so I might as well make the most of it, you know?”

And what?

“Why would you not…” Jordie starts but then the assistant is back and he doesn’t have the chance to finish his sentence.

“Okay, so I have your measurements and the style. Would you be interested in some engraving?”

Tyler looks pensive. “That sounds cool, right, Jord? What sort of stuff do people usually get engraved?”

“The date they met is the most popular. Or maybe the date of the proposal. Or if there’s a number or a word that feels important to you,” the guy says.

“Oh,” Tyler says and Jordie thinks he knows what he’s thinking about. Because that does sound cool, it’s just… he doesn’t think either of them knows the date of their first meeting. Even if they did, they’ve been lying about that, too. And the proposal? They do have a date for that, it’s just less of a proposal and more like a ‘let’s defraud the Canadian authorities’ scheme. Jordie is not so sure they want that engraved in their rings.

The assistant probably sees something on their faces because he continues. “Or you could do just your initials, too.”

Tyler’s face lights up. “Yeah, let’s do that,” he says and Jordie agrees. They can do that. It’s going to be like a friendship bracelet. Just a little more expensive. And a little more marriage-y.

By the time they’ve completed the specifics of their order and asked for expedited fitting and engraving so that they could pick the rings up before the wedding for sure, they’re actually running a bit late for Friday night dinner – but it’s not like Jordie really minds that. The last Friday night dinner also taught them that maybe taking two cars is not such a bad idea, so Jordie texts Jamie and Jenny to go ahead without them.

“So do you think we’ll last until dessert this time? Or should I try to shove some breadsticks into my pockets so that I have something to snack on after we storm out again?” Tyler asks as they’re driving down in Jordie’s car.

Jordie snorts. “I’ll be nice, I promise. Honestly, I am almost surprised that they didn’t make a bigger scene last time.”

“But like, do you think they’re actually okay with this? Because they didn’t seem happy last time, but at no point did they actually say that you can’t marry me.”

“I mean… it’s not really up to them, you know. I’m a grown-ass man, they’re not going to say I can’t marry someone – it’s not like the 18th century or something,” Jordie says but he feels like he’s also trying to convince himself, and not just Tyler.

*

And it turns out that Tyler is also quite right in his disbelief there. Because while Jordie’s grandparents can’t outright say that he can’t marry Tyler – but there are things that they _can_ and do say.

“So I was talking to Rachel the other day,” Jordie’s grandma starts and really, Jordie hasn’t even taken a sip of his drink, he’s not prepared.

“Rachel? Which Rachel?” Jenny asks.

“Jordie’s girlfriend Rachel,” she says completely casually.

Tyler freezes immediately beside Jordie. 

“Grandma, Rachel was my girlfriend about five years ago. We barely even dated for like a month,” Jordie says immediately but Tyler still looks a little weirded out.

His grandma waves him off. “She is such a nice girl, Jordie. She’s working for her grandmother’s company and Erica said she’s doing great. She’s also really pretty, Jordan, you guys would make such a wonderful couple.”

Jordie can’t believe this shit.

“Am I the only one who’s hearing this?” Jordie asks and looks around but suddenly everyone seems to be busy, staring at the wall or at the bottom of their glass. Honestly, the latter seems to be the new trend in the Benn household. Jordie sighs. “Grandma, I am getting married to Tyler, so you can stop with your matchmaking. You remember Tyler, my fiancé? He’s sitting literally right in front of you.”

Grandma takes a look at Tyler and if Jordie didn’t know her well enough, he could almost believe that she actually forgot about him. But like, Jordie knows her, and Tyler is still literally sitting about three feet from her, so like… she didn’t forget him.

“Oh, yeah. How are you doing, Tyler?”

“Very well, ma’am. We bought our rings today, aren’t they just gorgeous?” he says and he raises his diamond cover finger up for all to see, even twirls it around a little so it can properly sparkle in the light, and Jordie is so proud of him.

His grandma looks like she’s smelling something really bad. But it’s his grandpa who starts talking.

“I’m sure you paid a lot for that,” he says, and really, with that ‘you’, he could have meant both of them, but Jordie feels that it wasn’t the case. He knows it wasn’t the case.

“We did,” Jordie says immediately. “We wanted the best for our wedding.”

“Oh, Jordan, I really thought you were smarter than this,” his grandpa starts again and Jordie is waiting for him to finish his sentence but the end doesn’t come.

“Smarter than what exactly?”

“Smarter than to let a gold-digger wrap you around his little finger,” his grandpa says, and his words are so casual, so matter-of-factly that it shocks even Jordie a little.

No one says anything for an incredibly long moment. Maybe two incredibly long moments.

“He’s not a gold-digger, Grandpa. He’s one of the nicest person our family has ever had the chance to welcome and he shouldn’t have to listen to your words just because you can’t seem to realize that we’re finally in the 21st century.”

And Jordie knows the words are all true and that they have to be said because Tyler deserves someone to stand up for him so that he wouldn’t have to keep standing up for himself.

But it’s not Jordie who says all that. 

It’s Jamie.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, I just finished writing one of parts that I wanted to write since, like, starting this and I'm so hyped. It's still about 5 chapters away but it's the trashiest romcom scene I have ever written and I'm living for it.
> 
> Comments? Please? They are my absolute favourites to read.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretending that Jamie might actually care about him for the right reasons, even though he knows better, is just the next step in completely fucking himself up.
> 
> He’s finally proving his own fucking point.

**JORDIE**

Tyler doesn’t say anything on their way back. Jordie tries to ask him a couple questions, tries to check in with him because he really doesn’t seem okay but he only gives him hums and one-worded answers so Jordie eventually gives up on trying to have a conversation with him. Jordie doesn’t get what his deal is, but what the fuck ever, Tyler is so not his biggest problem at the moment.

Once they get home, he also immediately excuses himself and heads to their bedroom, claiming he’s tired or some shit, so Jordie lets him disappear down the corridor while he sits down with another scotch on the balcony.

The rest of the dinner was actually a quite subdued affair – and Jordie doesn’t think he has ever experienced a subdued anything in his grandparents’ house, but well… he doesn’t think he has ever experienced Jamie acting like that, either. And it’s not like no one has ever stood up to their grandparents – no matter how it sometimes felt to Jordie, that was never the full story. He and his grandpa had some seemingly endless fights and even Jenny couldn’t keep her mouth shut at times – but it was never Jamie. No one ever expected Jamie to be the one to shout or to make a scene. And not because anyone thought that he agreed with their grandparents but Jamie was always the baby of the family, always quiet, always someone who absolutely despised confrontation. 

And that’s the thing that Jordie doesn’t get now; the thing he’s trying to figure out while he’s standing outside in the dark. But apparently he’s not the only one because Jenny joins him in his contemplation after only a couple of minutes of solitude. Jordie and Tyler beat them home from their grandparents’ place but they weren’t far behind either – but now Jamie is nowhere to be seen, only his sister.

“You look deep in thought,” she says and leans over the railing next to Jordie.

“Don’t look so surprised. I do possess, like, three brain cells on better days.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Jord. I think there’s at least four in there.”

Jordie snorts but it’s absent-minded even to his own ears – his mind is still firmly on Jamie.

“Did he say anything else to you?” he asks after a bit of silence. He knows Jenny doesn’t need the clarification.

“Nope. He was basically non-verbal on the way back.”

Jordie is not surprised in the slightest.

“Do you think that…” he starts. He’s not even sure if he knows how he wants to finish that sentence but Jenny answers him regardless.

“I think there’s a possibility.”

And that’s… that’s not what Jordie wanted to hear. He can feel his stomach drop.

“Fuck," he says and his sister makes a sound that is very much in agreement with his very eloquent words. "Has he ever even come out to you?” 

He doesn’t know what answer he’s hoping for here – because if it’s a yes then that means that Jamie doesn’t trust him as much as he does Jenny (and Jordie knows that he shouldn’t make this about him, he knows, but it would still hurt a little). But if it’s a no – he doesn’t want it to be a no because then who else knows? He hopes someone does. He needs to know that Jamie has told someone.

But Jenny shakes her head. “No. But he did date someone earlier this year. I know he did but he didn’t say anything about it, about who the person was, to me. So I don’t think he’s so in the closet that there’s no hope he’ll ever come out of it. He just doesn’t want us to know, I guess,” she says and Jordie hears the same sadness in her voice. They both know that it’s Jamie’s decision and that, again, it’s not about them, never was and never will be. 

They still can’t stop thinking about all the potential reasons why Jamie wouldn’t trust them with this.

“Am I… hurting him with this?” Jordie asks.

“Well, it’s not like it’s your fault that you fell in love with Tyler,” she says and the biggest wave of guilt washes over Jordie. “He’ll get over it, you know that. It’s probably just a crush. Don’t beat yourself up because of this.”

And Jordie hums because he knows that this is how he should be acting anyway – like the overprotective big brother who feels bad for Jamie but who also can’t do anything else to change the situation. It’s how he genuinely feels – just not for the exact same reason Jenny thinks he does.

It’s later when he’s already in bed and looking over Tyler’s sleeping form curled up on the other side, that he thinks that, fuck, Jamie should _not_ have to get over this.

He shouldn’t have to get over Tyler even if Tyler doesn’t feel the same way about him because it’s not fair – it’s not fair that for so long he felt like he needed to hide who he was and now he has to hide this. He has to hide this again for no fucking reason.

Maybe Jordie really doesn’t want be the one who takes this away from Jamie – but, it’s not like he can tell this to Jamie. It’s not like he can do fucking anything about this.

He doesn’t sleep well. Obviously.

*

The next day both Jamie and Tyler seem fine and they talk to each other just like they did before and really, maybe Jordie doesn’t know what Jamie is like when he likes someone (Jordie has never seen it for obvious reasons) but he doesn’t think he treats Tyler any differently than he did before. 

Jordie even entertains the idea that there’s maybe nothing that he actually needs to worry about. Maybe it was just all in his head. And in Jenny’s head. And probably in his parents’ and uncle’s and grandparents’ head. 

Okay, so he knows there is something – but maybe it’s not as bad as he thought it was?

And really, for the next week or so, things are looking really well. Tyler and he are busy with planning: they get the date fixed, have the venue all booked up (okay, so the fact that the Benn family literally owns the farm house with the orchard where they’re holding the ceremony does help with the planning) and are scheduled to meet with the photographer and the caterer next week – so really, not only are they crushing these preparations but Jordie is pulling his weight here. He’s making phone calls (mostly to the wedding planner who then makes the rest of the phone calls for him but he thinks it still counts), and he’s making decisions and he’s booking things and really, he doesn’t want to gloat but he’s basically the perfect fiancé.

(He is definitely not overcompensating for his ever-growing guilt because of the whole Jamie possibly liking his fake fiancé situation. Absolutely no overcompensating is happening here.)

And things seem to be okay between Jamie and Tyler, too – they play video games together and they cook dinner together and Tyler even watches some of those weird documentaries that Jamie loves so much; and they seem okay – they seem totally okay to Jordie at least.

Naturally, the problem comes up when they’re trying to put together the guest list.

“So we’re inviting your family – that’s five people, right?” Jordie asks, and Tyler’s face suddenly goes very blank. “Or more than five?”

“No, I… I only want to invite my mom and dad. And my dad’s new wife and their baby. And I’m not even sure that they’ll be able to make it on such short notice.”

Jordie nods slowly but he’s still staring at Tyler who’s emphatically trying to avoid looking at him. “Okay. So not your mom’s husband?” 

“No,” Tyler says again.

And Jordie knows he probably shouldn’t push him but he can’t keep his mouth shut. “Can I ask why…”

“No, Jordie, can you just leave one fucking thing alone? I said I don’t want him to be here,” he says suddenly, his voice on the verge of shouting, and jumps up from the couch.

Jordie is so shocked that he can’t even begin to figure out how he should be reacting here. What on earth.

“I need some air,” Tyler adds quickly and before Jordie could stop him, before he could even start to understand what’s happening here, Tyler’s out the door, slamming it behind himself.

The shouting gets the attention of the other Benn siblings, though, and they poke their heads out of their respective rooms immediately after the door slams hard behind Tyler.

“What’s going on? Where’s Tyler?” Jenny asks as they come closer.

“I…” Jordie starts but he’s still so shocked, he doesn’t even know how to explain it. “I have no idea what happened. He just stormed out.”

Jamie and Jenny are wearing matching surprise on their faces. “Stormed out?” Jenny asks.

“Like… we were putting together the guest list and I asked about his family and… I don’t know, I asked why he didn’t want his mom’s husband to come and then he just… lost it and ran away.”  
And while Jenny looks just as confused as Jordie seems to be, Jordie also doesn’t miss the expression on Jamie’s face. Because he doesn’t look confused – he seems concerned, and why the fuck is Jamie concerned now?

“Shit. I’ll… I’ll find him,” he says eventually and now both Jenny and Jordie are staring at him. “I’ll… be back.”

And then he’s up too and is already almost out of the penthouse when Jordie manages to finally react. “Jamie…”

But Jamie just shakes his head. “I’ll tell you later, I need to find him.”

And then he’s out the door, too, carefully closing it behind himself and Jordie is still so confused. He feels like he’s three steps behind everyone and he doesn’t even know what game they’re playing.

“What’s just happened here?” Jenny asks eventually as they’re still staring at the door.

“I have absolutely no idea,” Jordie says and this time – this time he’s not even lying to her.

*

**TYLER**

Tyler doesn’t make it far from the penthouse when he realizes that he doesn’t actually have anywhere to go.

And really, he should have thought of that when he stormed out but his only thought back there was that he needed to get away from Jordie’s curious eyes, as far away as humanly possible. But now he feels like maybe staying would have been better, even maybe explaining himself because where is he even supposed to…

“Tyler,” he hears from behind, and for a second, he thinks about not turning around, just ignoring him like he hasn’t heard a thing. But it’s Jamie so he has to turn around – he needs to.

And the thing is, Tyler is already so fucking confused by Jamie – has been so fucking confused by him ever since their last Friday night dinner. Or maybe Tyler is actually confused about his own feelings. And maybe confused is not even the right word because he’s fully aware what triggered Jamie’s hero complex; he knows exactly why he’s standing here right now after Tyler’s dramatic exit, too. Tyler just can’t seem to accept what’s right in front of his eyes.

Tyler knows Jamie feels sorry for him, okay? And he knows Jamie is probably the kindest and most caring and most understanding person on this freaking Earth, so really, it’s quite obvious why all of a sudden Jamie is starting to act like his knight in shining armor, hoping he can save Tyler from his big bad trauma. Because Tyler, the stupid idiot he is, told Jamie everything that happened and now Jamie can’t just ignore it, right? Because Jamie is responsible and he somehow got it into his responsible mind that because he’s the only one who knows Tyler’s story, then he must be the one who has to look out for him.

But Tyler can’t really call him out on it now, can he? What would he even say to him? Please be less nice to me? Please stop standing up for me? Please stop caring? Please stop being such an honorable person because I’m going to think you actually like me and that’s going to give me stupid hope?

He can’t say _any_ of that.

And the thing is – if Tyler could actually be honest with himself once in his life – he could even admit that he doesn’t actually _want_ Jamie to stop caring. He would just really like it if Jamie was caring for the right reasons. Although, really, at the end of the day, is Jamie caring about him because he’s had some fucked up things happen to him so much different that Jamie caring about him because he actually likes him? Is it _that_ different?

It might be – but the really, really sad thing is that Tyler might not ever care anymore. He’s like one of those stray dogs begging for some food. He’ll take what he can get. He’ll take whatever Jamie can give him. And if all Jamie can give him is to stand here and try to look out for him because he’s a good guy then that’s what Tyler is going to take from him. Because Jamie is a good guy and Tyler is very much not, and he’s going to continue living in fantasy land where he can keep telling himself that Jamie might be doing this because he likes him, and he’s going to feel guilty about it, but then he will do it all over again.

He knows he probably shouldn’t. That he should tell Jamie to stop it somehow because one day Tyler is going to believe his own fairytales and he’s going to end up breaking his own damn heart but… it also wouldn’t be the first stupid decision in Tyler’s life, would it now? Tyler has already said that he has no self-preservation instincts left. Pretending that Jamie might actually care about him for the right reasons, even though he knows better, is just the next step in completely fucking himself up.

He’s finally proving his own fucking point.

“I’m sorry, but I… needed to get out of there,” he says eventually when Jamie keeps looking at him without saying anything other than his name.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks but Tyler shakes his head immediately. He doesn’t want to, and he especially doesn’t want to with Jamie. He’s not going to burden him again with this.

“Do you want me to take your mind off of it?”

Tyler knows he shouldn’t ask this of Jamie.

But well, Tyler knows a whole lot of things that he’s been expertly ignoring, right?

And Jamie’s offering.

“Please.”

*

Jamie takes him to the shelter he volunteers at.

The people working there seem thrilled to see Jamie there and he says hi to everyone with his shy little smile and asks them how they’re doing – and really, Tyler doesn’t understand how the world is not swooning over everything Jamie Benn does, he really doesn’t.

When they finish talking to what seems like every single person currently at the shelter, Jamie leads them to the very back of the place to a smaller room. Tyler doesn’t understand what they’re doing there in the dimly lit room at first but then Jamie turns the light on and…

There are puppies on the floor. Tiny little squirming chocolate lab puppies and Tyler is…

Tyler has no words.

He thinks he makes a noise that is the opposite of dignified as he throws himself down next to the puppies. They are soft and tiny and the most adorable beings that Tyler has ever seen in his life and Tyler doesn’t know how it happens but the next thing he realizes is that he’s sitting with his back to the wall and there are exactly three puppies in his lap. One of them is chewing on his fingers and really, the puppy can have his hand and anything else it wants because that puppy? That puppy deserves everything this world can offer.

“I thought you would like them,” Jamie smiles as he takes a seat next to Tyler. He also has a puppy in his hands, curled up in his arms, almost like it’s ready to take a nap right then and there, and it’s not like Tyler is jealous of a puppy but… Tyler is kind of jealous of the puppy, okay?

“I love them, Jamie. I want to move here and live with them,” Tyler says and he cuddles one of the puppies closer.

Jamie doesn’t say anything but he has a smile on his face that Tyler can’t completely decipher. He’s probably just happy to be cuddling puppies – who wouldn’t be really?

And the thing is, they don’t even really talk while they’re there but Tyler is happy: he wanted to be distracted for a bit and those little bundles of joys are the best kinds of distractions that he has ever seen. Two of the puppies fall asleep on his lap almost immediately and he spends a good half an hour entertaining the third one who seems to never run out of energy and it’s honestly the greatest afternoon Tyler remember having since – since forever probably. He really misses having a dog, huh?

Eventually, he does accept, though, that they’ll have to leave at some point – not just because it’s getting kind of late but because he also realizes that he can’t actually avoid his future husband forever. So they say a heartfelt goodbye to the puppies and then a little bit less emotional goodbye to the people working there, and head back to the penthouse. They took an Uber here and they’re doing the same as they’re going back – but they don’t say anything of substance right up until they enter their building. Cooing over how adorable the puppies were is not a super important conversation, even Tyler knows that.

“Are you… are you going to be okay?” Jamie asks as the elevator door closes behind them.

“I will be,” Tyler says and even sends a reassuring smile Jamie’s way but he still looks concerned as he stares back at Tyler. “I’ll tell him, okay? I’ll tell him,” he adds then because he knows that’s what Jamie wants to hear.

And really, once he makes the promise to Jamie, he does feel better – he feels prepared and almost ready and that, in a strange way, feels liberating again. He knows he’ll have to tell this now to Jordie because he can break any promises he makes to himself but a promise to Jamie? 

He’s not breaking _that_.

*

So he tells Jordie. They retreat to their room and he tells him everything. And Jordie reacts like how he thought he would, by getting angry at the guy and then getting all upset that Tyler had to go through all that – and Tyler almost smiles because even though it’s bad and upsetting, the fact that he knows Jordie so well… maybe it’s fucked up that he’s concentrating on that in the middle of this all, but he appreciates that Jordie is his friend. 

Maybe that is finally moving past. He hopes it is.

He says a quiet thank you to Jamie that night and he says there’s nothing he needs to thank him for, and then the four of them have dinner together. It’s a nice night.

He also talks to his dad the next day, tells him about the wedding and how his new life in Vancouver is treating him. And his dad is happy for them even though he’s a little shocked at first, and he tells him they’ll be there for the wedding, of course, they will be, and not to even worry about the tickets, no, Tyler, this is your wedding, we’ll be there, and Tyler… Tyler’s heart flutters and he smiles at his dad over the small rectangle of his phone.

His mom’s different, though. But then, he thinks he knew that she’d be different.

“She’s not coming,” Tyler tells Jordie two days later when Jordie’s furiously typing on his Mac in the morning. It’s just the two of them there, Jenny working, Jamie out with some friends – and Tyler’s glad because he’s not planning on making a scene again but he knows that Jordie will probably make one if Tyler doesn’t handle this well.

Jordie puts his Mac down. “Did she give you a reason for it?” he asks slowly.

“She’s busy,” Tyler says, and he’s not lying. His mom said that she’d want to come but that it’s such short notice that she couldn’t possibly plan a trip to the other side of the world in two weeks’ time.

“Busy,” Jordie repeats but he probably sees something in Tyler’s face and to Tyler’s relief, he doesn’t push it.

They’re looking at each other for a couple seconds.

“Your dad and his wife can sit with Uncle Patty and Christina, I think,” Jordie says eventually.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Tyler agrees and the conversation is over with that.

*

And really, it’s all going so well. Tyler’s third Friday night dinner is almost a success compared to the previous two, with almost no snide comments from either Jordie or his grandparents. The preparations are going well, too, and Tyler’s not thinking about how much money it cost Jordie to get everything done in about two weeks or what strings the wedding planner they eventually got to help them out had to pull – it’s almost done and that’s what Tyler’s thinking about. And maybe he’s still hung up on Jamie but he thinks he’s also keeping that under control, a crush kept totally at bay because it’s still so unattainable and unrequited and, franly, impossible – so really, everything should be perfect.

The next two weeks really are very nice and it’s not even just Tyler trying to fool himself. A long string of days filled with the usual Benn bickering, and cooking with Jamie and arguing with Jordie about the Canucks line-up and going cake-testing with Jenny and occasional outings to the shelter – it really is as close as it could get to perfection, considering the circumstance and all.

As he said, it’s all going so well. Until it’s not.

And maybe he’s the one who fucks up eventually but the downfall starts with Jamie’s gift and that’s the hill he’s willing to die on.

Or maybe not. Maybe the downfall started the very first moment he laid eyes on Jamie on that very first day, with his head bleeding and vision blurring – because really, he never stood a chance, did he?

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that ended up a teeny tiny bit angsty. Sorry? I'm blaming Tyler - he's out of control when it comes to angst.
> 
> But we're totally getting to my favourite parts now, so hang in there.
> 
> I'm forever grateful for your feedback and reactions. <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That’s the family you have, take it as it is or don’t act surprised when it leaves you.

**JORDIE**

Jordie thinks he should have seen it coming. No, scratch that: he _knows_ he should have seen it coming. He really doesn’t understand how he could have been so blind to everything that’s been going on in front of his very eyes but he has absolutely no excuses. He wants have some but there’s literally nothing he can say. He’s an idiot. 

And that goes for both fucking things. Because he should have seen the thing with Tyler coming from a mile, too, but the thing with his grandpa? Dammit, Jordie, you should have seen that from the _moment_ you introduced Tyler to them.

The thing with his grandpa (because let’s go in a reasonable, chronological order here) starts with a phone call the weekend before the week of the wedding in July. 

The Friday night dinner was surprisingly amicable and in hindsight, Jordie also doesn’t get how he didn’t find that suspicious – his grandparents are not amicable unless they want something _or_ if they are planning something. And really, both are applicable in this case.

But it’s Saturday morning and Jordie has slept well (his old friend, insomnia finally seemingly gone again, thank the Lord) and he’s on his way to the gym enjoying the slow start to the day when his phone rings. He sees Grandpa on the screen and he even considers not taking it, but well, he was almost polite with Tyler and Jordie yesterday, maybe Jordie can cut him some slack.

“Hey Grandpa,” he says as he puts his gym bag down on the bench.

“Jordan, I’m glad I caught you. I have terrific news,” he says and Jordie doesn’t know what it says about their relationship but the moment he hears that his grandpa has terrific news, he’s suddenly prepared for the worst scenario possible.

“Oh yeah?” he asks eventually because maybe the news is not so bad. Maybe it’s just slightly shitty and he can deal with it quickly – maybe even before his workout.

“And old friend of mine, Gerry Simpson, you know him, he’s the head of Penguin Random House in Canada, has decided to drop by this morning and I mentioned your book to him and he said that he’d be happy to chat with you about it. If you’re not too busy to come down today, of course.”

And Jordie. Jordie doesn’t know what to say or how to react because… this has been his dream since probably day one. To meet with Gerry (or god, Mr. Simpson rather, that man is someone in publishing) was possibly the best thing he could ever do for his writing career. Even if he doesn’t want the book, even if he doesn’t think it should be published right now or maybe ever, Jordie is sure the feedback he could get would be huge help, whether it’s tips on the agent-hunting or querying or the plot itself or the editing – and frankly, Jordie would be stupid to say no to such opportunity.

It’s just that, in the back of his mind, the voice tells him that knows his grandpa better than this. He knows that, just like everything else with him, things come at a price and Jordie – Jordie is not sure what the price he’d need to pay here would be. He could guess but he doesn’t really want to.

But it’s… it’s also everything he’s wanted for years. And he has to decide now. For fuck’s sake.

*

He goes. 

He tells himself that he can lose nothing by going. Showing up doesn’t oblige him to do anything else. Maybe his grandpa jut genuinely wants him to succeed. If Jordie got famous, after all, he’d be furthering the family legacy – that’s not something that’s unimportant to his grandpa. Family legacy is his grandpa’s thing.

So Jordie goes and he meets with Gerry Simpson and they talk and Gerry reads the first chapter and he _likes_ it and Jordie’s heart is about to jump out of his chest because this is his baby here and this man, who is so established in publishing and has nurtured some of the best damn novels, says he actually _likes_ it. And he even says it in a totally believable way because he doesn’t tell Jordie that he’s the next big thing and he’s not utterly and completely obsessed with what he reads – but he says there’s a lot of potential in it and that it’s definitely something they could work with in the future.

It’s basically everything that Jordie has ever wanted to hear.

Simpson doesn’t offer anything but he does shake Jordie’s hand when he leaves his grandpa’s house and tells him that they’ll be hopefully seeing each other in the future.

Jordie thinks he’s dreaming. He can’t believe what just happened and he’s itching to go home and tell this to Jamie and Jenny and Tyler and then to sit down and work on his manuscript with special interest to straighten out the things that Gerry has mentioned. He’s excited to work on it – he’s even excited to look for typos, for God’s sake, and if there’s one thing he absolutely hates, that’s looking for typos.

His grandpa clears his throat. He might have been saying things, too, Jordie doesn’t know. Jordie is only here in his body.

“I’m guessing the meeting went well,” his grandpa says and there’s something in his voice, something that Jordie almost mistakes for kindness that puts him on alert again. He thinks it’s a little ridiculous that his moment of insanity is that he thinks his grandpa might genuinely be happy for him – that knowing that could not possibly be the case is what brings him back to earth.

“Yeah, we had a great talk,” he says and he knows that he should probably give a couple more details to his grandpa because it was him who made this all possible but he feels fiercely protective of the things that Gerry has said about his novel.

“That’s great,” his grandpa says, and again, Jordie almost believes that that’s it, that he’s just happy and excited for Jordie but he knows it’s not the case.

And it’s not. Jordie wants to feel vindication but he can’t.

“So I also had a talk with Gerry.”

Jordie doesn’t say anything.

“And he’s definitely interested in your book.”

Still nothing.

“I told him I’d be willing to help to make sure you could get the best deal possible.”

And there it is.

“I’m guessing you’d want something in return,” Jordie says and he can barely keep the bitterness out of his voice. His grandpa is looking at him with almost an amused smile but Jordie is not breaking the eye contact.

“Oh no, nothing for me,” his grandpa says. “Although, I am not quite sure that an impulse marriage is going to help with your career. It might be something that could seriously harm it in the long run actually.”

And really, Jordie still doesn’t know how he didn’t see this coming. It’s so goddamn typical of him, so fucking obvious.

“So is that your offer now? I break off my engagement to Tyler, I abandon him at the fucking altar and then you’ll pay for my book deal?” and he doesn’t know how he manages to keep his voice so even, because he’s absolutely furious on the inside, but his cool and poise even seems to surprise his grandfather.

“It’s for your own good, Jordie. You have to think about what it would do to your career.”

“When did you even talk to Gerry about this?” Jordie asks suddenly.

“What do you mean when did I talk to him about it? He was here the whole morning.”

And really, Jordie shouldn’t be upset over this, not when he’s own fucking grandfather is trying to almost literally pay him to break off his engagement which definitely should be the bigger problem, but somehow that sentence is still what hurts him the most. “So he offered you a book deal before he even met me. Before he could even read any of the things I wrote.”

“Yes. That doesn’t mean the deal is not…”

“Oh my god, how can you be so thick-headed?” and there it is, now Jordie is losing his cool. His self-control was truly admirable while it lasted. “Did you really think that was all I wanted? To get a deal and be happy with that? That you can buy me everything in order to convince me to just not do this big, terrible thing that is marrying a guy? Or marrying an immigrant? Because really, grandpa, I can’t even decide which is the one thing you hate more about him. It’s not like you gave him a chance to actually get to know him – there’s literally nothing else you know about him.”

“Jordan, this has been the thing you have always wanted,” his grandpa says, completely ignoring Jordie’s comments.

But Jordie can’t take this anymore and he doesn’t know how he went from being on cloud nine to a raging mess in about five minutes. But he guesses, this was already a long time coming. 

“No. Do you know what the thing I have always wanted was? To write something that I can be proud of. Or you know, something that my family could be proud of. Because, I guess, you have brainwashed me into knowing and believing how important family is, and I still, after all the shit you pulled, want to make you guys happy and proud and shit. But I guess I should have learnt by now that you just can’t be happy for me – that you can’t be proud of me. And really, Grandpa, what the fuck even is your problem with me? That I dare to call you out on your homophobic bullshit when you’re literally saying it in front of Jamie? Or that you hate everyone that could potentially change the world around you? I get it, we all fucking get it: your father had to fight tooth and nail to get where he was and he did it all for his family. But that doesn’t mean that you get to shit on everyone else who hasn’t been given the same opportunities. Grow the fuck up, seriously, and understand that throwing a trust fund at us is not the same thing as being there for us and being proud of who your family actually is, even when we didn’t turn out the fucking way you wanted us to. That’s the family you have, take it as it is or don’t act surprised when it leaves you.”

And Jordie is breathing heavily and the sudden silence that fills the room after his rant is almost deafening. For once in his life, Jordie thinks that his grandpa can’t find the words to answer him.

Jordie gets up from the chair, slowly and gracefully, exactly how he knows his grandpa would handle a confrontation. He starts towards the door but he takes one last look at is grandpa. He’s still sitting in the same position, not even moving an inch.

“And just so if the answer wasn’t clear enough: thank you for the offer but no thank you. See you at my wedding.”

And then he leaves.

*

**TYLER**

Tyler is getting married in two days which is, arguably, one of the craziest thing that has ever happened to Tyler in his life. He thinks he should be more freaked out about it than he currently is but really, he thinks he’s already past his freak-out stage. He freaked out when Jordie first told him that they should get married and he freaked out over the guest list and he freaked out a couple times over his questionable intentions towards Jamie – but now he thinks he’s actually, finally done with his freak-outs. He knows people get cold feet on the day of their wedding for a reason but Tyler thinks he and Jordie doesn’t have to be afraid of that – because well, it’s not like they have to be worried about the fact that they’re going to spend their life together until they die. Like, sure, they’re promising that on paper and in their spoken words, too, but they both know it’s not the case, so the whole ‘oh my god am I making a mistake by committing to one person ‘til my dying breath’ thing is not really applicable in their case.

Tyler’s glad. Tyler doesn’t like freaking out so it’s chill that a fake wedding is not as freak-out-worthy as a real wedding would be. Tyler gets all the good things without even having to think about the bad parts. His dad and his wife and Tyler’s half-sister – who Tyler has never actually met so that’s one thing that might necessitate a minor freak-out maybe but definitely not a full-on one – are getting here literally the morning of the wedding on Friday, so Tyler doesn’t even have to worry about entertaining them and all other bits and pieces are dealt with, so really, everything is…

Wait a second, was that… whining?

Who is whining in their apartment? What is that noise? If one of these idiots decided to kidnap and torture someone in the penthouse just two days before the wedding, Tyler swears to God, he’ll…

“Hey, Ty,” Jamie says as he comes out of his room. He also closes the door to his room immediately, which Tyler finds very suspicious even though he was kidding about the kidnapping. Mostly. 

“Hey, Jamie?” Tyler says and he didn’t mean for it to sound like a question but he’s still too suspicious. Jamie looks all fidgety and he’s avoiding Tyler’s eyes and oh god, he doesn’t actually have someone tied up in his room, does he? And not even the sexy kind of tied up.

“So…” Jamie starts and really, Tyler is always all ears when Jamie is talking but he’s definitely all ears now.

“What’s going on, Jamie?” 

Jamie blushes which, on one hand, dissuades Tyler of the kidnapping option pretty much immediately because you cannot possibly kidnap someone with a blush like that, but, on the other hand, makes Tyler think other really bad thoughts so… any time now, Jamie, really, please say something before Tyler does something worse.

“I… got you a present for your wedding,” he says finally and he looks like every single word was pulled out of him with the use of force. 

“Oh… and are we not getting it on Friday?”

Jamie blushes an even deeper shade of red and Tyler is totally not thinking about how much of that beautiful red skin is hidden underneath Jamie’s T-shirt. “It’s more of a present just for you. And like, it’s not something I should probably take to the wedding, so like… I thought I might give it to you earlier? Like now?”

“Oh, sure, Jamie. That’s really cool of you. I love presents, shower me in your presents,” Tyler says finally, and he probably sounds a little dumb but he thinks that’s his normal way of being around Jamie, so he probably doesn’t even notice it anymore.

“Okay, cool. Just… stay on the couch? And like maybe close your eyes?”

“You’re not going to kidnap me, right?” Tyler checks. He’s joking. Naturally.

“Sit down, Tyler,” Jamie says with a grin and Tyler decides to trust him even though that was not a no, Tyler, I would never kidnap anyone ever. Tyler noticed that.

But then Jamie makes another shooing motion, so Tyler rolls his eyes and goes and sits down and closes his eyes because well, he can do that for some presents – and maybe for, like, Jamie, but no one needs to know that. He hears that Jamie opens the door to his room again and then he hears him come out and he hears his footsteps come closer and he hears that they slow down as he gets closer and Tyler feels all his senses heighten as he waits with his eyes closed and for a brief, insane moment he even entertains the idea the Jamie might…

There’s something in his lap and it’s soft and tiny and…

“Open your eyes,” Jamie says and Tyler does and he knows what’s in his lap, he knew it before he even opened his eyes, maybe even knew it the moment Jamie said he got him something, but still, as he looks into the beautiful eyes of the Labrador puppy on his lap, his lips still part in complete surprise.

“Jamie,” he whispers but he can’t do anything else. He lifts the puppy closer and it whines a little (the _whining_ , of course) and Tyler cuddles it close to his heart immediately.

He feels so incredibly happy, he doesn’t think he has ever felt like this before.

“They are going up for adoption this Sunday but I talked to the guys at the shelter and they said he was big enough to leave a bit earlier and I knew he would be in the best hands with you,” Jamie says and he’s rambling but Tyler just grins at him.

“He’s the most perfect thing I have ever seen,” he says and cuddles him closer. He squirms a little in Tyler’s hands but then he relaxes, almost like he also feels that he now belongs there, into Tyler’s hands and into his heart.

“Thank you so much, Jamie. Seriously, this is…” Tyler starts but he doesn’t know how to finish his sentence. He feels so much suddenly, so much happiness that he has no idea how that could be put into words.

“It’s no problem. You know, you said you only wanted a dog when you wouldn’t have to be moving around and well, you have your home here now so…” 

Tyler can’t breathe. Or maybe he can and he doesn’t even realize that he’s breathing but he’s looking up at Jamie who’s looking at him with his beautiful brown eyes and he’s talking about how Tyler has a home here and he gave Tyler a freaking dog and Tyler just.

He looks at him, and he thinks oh. _Oh_.

This is how it feels to be in love with someone.

*

**JORDIE**

Jordie is totally calm by the time he gets home. He also might have gone to the gym to spend an hour or so beating up a punching bag and thinking about every single thing his grandfather ever said or did that made him upset. It was way too easy to fill an hour with that.

So he is totally calm by the time he gets back but he’s still a little distracted – he thinks he’s allowed to be distracted after the day he’s had. Jenny seems to be working a late night, but Tyler and Jamie are both there and for a second, Jordie doesn’t get why they’re both sprawled out on the carpet but then…

“Is that… a dog?” he asks and he promptly forgets about everything that happened to him today.

“Jordie,” Tyler says and he looks so incredibly happy. Jordie is so taken aback for a second because he hasn’t seen Tyler that happy like… ever. “Come meet Marshall.” 

“How… do we have a dog now?” he asks while he gets on his knees to pet the squirmy little angel.

“Well. I have a dog – it was a wedding present from Jamie. But you can co-parent with me, I guess,” Tyler says.

Jordie almost immediately forgets about the dog. He looks up at Jamie instead who, of fucking course, is emphatically avoiding his eyes.

Jesus Christ. Jesus freaking Christ.

He got him a fucking dog – the most adorable puppy Jordie has even seen. This is not backing off. This is not trying to get over a hopeless crush, for fuck’s sake. This is how you declare your undying love to someone – and Jordie doesn’t know if Jamie doesn’t know that or that he just doesn’t care but he… he doesn’t even know which one is worse.

Jamie gave Tyler a dog and Jordie knows he should talk to him about it, to ask him what the fuck is going on because this is way out of control now – but he… how could he ask him that when in two days he’s going to marry the guy his brother is possibly falling in love with? When he has to marry that guy because if he doesn’t then all he gets done is that said guy will get shipped back to a place he doesn’t want to be in six thousand freaking miles from here?

Jordie is going to drown in the sea of his own guilt and he’ll have no one else to blame but himself.

*

He goes to bed with Tyler and Marshall curled up on the other side, still deep in thought. They’re both quiet as they’re staring at the puppy who seems to be the only one in the room without the all too heavy thoughts both Jordie and Tyler seem to be having.

“I totally forgot to ask how your meeting went today,” Tyler whispers suddenly as he slowly brushes a careful finger over Marshall’s head.

“It was… alright,” Jordie says. “I didn’t get a deal,” he adds reluctantly.

“Oh,” Tyler says. “I’m sorry, Jord. But I’m sure you’re going to find a better agent and a better publisher, too. I know you will,” he says and he sounds so hopeful – Jordie couldn’t possibly tell him how the meeting actually went.

He knows he’s promised that he’d be honest with Tyler – that this was literally the first promise he made to Tyler. But he also knows that telling the truth to Tyler about the deal would help neither of them – they would both just feel guilty and that wouldn’t help with anything, so really what’s the use? Jordie already feels guilty. He doesn’t need Tyler to be guilty, too, only adding to Jordie’s moral dilemma.

They’re quiet for a minute or two again as they’re both looking at Marshall, listening to his peaceful breathing between them.

“You really do love Marshall, huh?” Jordie asks, even though his thoughts are still stuck on his morning.

Tyler doesn’t answer at first.

“I really, really do,” he says eventually but he’s not meeting eyes.

But well, Jordie doesn’t know that because he’s also not meeting Tyler’s.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dramatic speech and storming out? Sign me the fuck up.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As he said, he has this under control. 
> 
> Until 10:21 pm that night.

**TYLER**

The truly ridiculous thing is that, up until the night before the wedding, Tyler still maintains that everything is still somehow under control. He has a sleepless night where both he and Jordie pretend that they’re totally sleeping and not freaking out about something (and yeah, Tyler is taking back his previous monologue about how chill he is about the lack of his freak-outs), but after he gets out of bed, he goes about his day like he has nothing to worry about.

He and Jordie go to the tailor to pick up their suits and they drive out to the orchard to check if everything is according to plan and they don’t even forget to drop by Tiffany’s to pick up their rings.

And throughout the whole day, they talk and they laugh and they pretend to have the most normal day ever. They have an argument over whether they should try to get season tickets to the Canucks games or not but that’s the only thing they do not agree on – the fact that Tyler is quite possibly madly in love with Jordie’s fucking brother does not even get mentioned.

And Tyler thinks Jordie’s picked up on something because sometimes he catches him looking at him with this unreadable expression, but he doesn’t say anything and neither does Tyler. He doesn’t know if they’re both ignoring the problem or they both know that there’s nothing they could possibly do to solve the situation or maybe Jordie doesn’t actually know – Tyler doesn’t know the reason but they don’t talk about it, and really, Tyler is glad.

As he said, he has this under control. 

Until 10:21 pm that night.

*

Tyler and Jordie do not hold a bachelor party. Most of Jordie’s old buddies can’t even make it to the wedding because of the short notice and Tyler doesn’t really know anyone in Vancouver, so they decide not to sweat it and just not hold one. 

Jenny and Jamie thinks differently, though. Or at least, Jenny does. Jamie – Tyler doesn’t know what Jamie thinks at all. About anything.

“Okay, we’ve brought the alcohol,” Jenny shouts as she opens the door to the penthouse. Tyler and Jordie are watching baseball highlights on the TV in their sweats and decidedly do not look like two people who are about to get married in about 15 hours.

Jenny clearly sees that, too, because her initial battle cry is long gone as she deposits the plastic bags on the sofa. The bottles clink together like even those are of the opinion that Jordie and Tyler should be partying instead of whatever they’re doing at the moment.

“You guys are seriously not spending you last night as an unmarried couple like this, right?” Jenny asks and she looks possibly scandalized.

Tyler and Jordie share a look. “We’re not having a bachelor party, if that’s what you’re asking,” Jordie says eventually.

“Uhm, yes, you are having one. I just brought the alcohol,” Jenny says.

Jamie just hops down on the couch. He clearly thinks Jenny can handle this.

“I mean… I’m up for some drinking with you guys if that’s what you had in mind,” Jordie offers in the end.

Jenny looks like she’s about to murder Jordie with her stare.

“Oh my god. I really can’t believe you guys. People are usually excited about this,” she says but then when she sees that Tyler and Jamie are also agreeing with Jordie, she sighs. “You know what? Yeah, let’s just drink.”

She starts drinking vodka straight from the bottle. Tyler thinks he would do the same if he had to put up with the three of them.

*

So they drink. And talk. And the Benns share embarrassing stories from their childhood and Jordie groans because most of the stories include him doing something truly ridiculous and Tyler laughs. And then they drink some more.

It’s a great night and Tyler is happy this is how they decided to spend their last night before the wedding because this is exactly how he would have wanted to spend it if someone asked him beforehand. He thinks Jenny might have known this, too, and he gets the urge to hug her and not let go.

He blames it on the alcohol.

Shit, Tyler has drunk a lot. Maybe a bit too much.

“Why don’t we have any vodka left, Jen? Why did you drink my vodka?” Jordie sighs as he’s holding a completely empty bottle over a glass, trying to will the last couple of drops to finally leave their prison walls.

“Oh. We have no vodka left? That’s no bueno, Jord. We need more vodka,” she says and she gets on her feet, looking as wobbly as she sounds. “Let’s go and buy some more.”

“I think we’re good guys,” Jamie adds quietly, and he seems more sober than the others but Tyler might be making that up at this point.

“Nope, little brother, we are not. One more bottle,” she says and she rummages around in her bad for her credit card. “We’ll be back in ten minutes, make sure Tyler’s entertained.”

And before Tyler could really protest – because even through his hazy mind, he realizes that he definitely should not be left alone with Jamie in his state – Jenny grabs Jordie’s arm and pushes him towards the door.

It slams behind them and Tyler hears the muffled sound of their drunk snickering outside. He shakes his head. “Idiots,” he murmurs.

“You’re marrying one of those idiots, so really, what does it make you?” Jamie asks with a snort and he’s definitely more sober than Tyler is. That’s, like, a really great thing because Tyler needs one of them to be sober.

“Probably an idiot,” Tyler says and he looks up with a lopsided grin and stares into Jamie’s face.

Jamie’s already looking back at him.

“Nah, I think you’re still okay,” Jamie says, and his voice is so close and his face is so close and he is just so fucking close that Tyler doesn’t even try to understand his words at first – he can only concentrate on those eyes, and the shape of his nose and tiny scar above his upper lip.

“No, I think I’m still an idiot,” Tyler says eventually.

Jamie is still staring at him with an expression that Tyler doesn’t get. “And why is that?”

“Because I’m not marrying you,” Tyler says and – shit.

This is not what he wanted to say. This is the opposite of what he wanted to say.

Jamie doesn’t react at all, at first, face and body completely frozen, and Tyler just… he wants him to fucking say something, okay, to give any sort of acknowledgement to Tyler that he hasn’t fucked this up completely.

“Tyler,” Jamie starts but he can’t seem to go on.

“You know it’s true,” Tyler says and he can’t believe he’s still staring into Jamie’s eyes because suddenly, it becomes almost too much, too many emotions and his senses overloaded but he can’t… he can’t look away, either.

And he also can’t believe that he’s saying all this to Jamie right here and right now, but if he doesn’t then… this is his last night before he goes to marry a man he doesn’t love. If he doesn’t tell this to Jamie now, he never will and then the part of Tyler – that indestructible part that can’t seem to fucking stop hoping – will always wonder about the what if and the what could have been. 

He needs to say this, he _needs_ to know this before he walks down the aisle tomorrow.

“I can’t do this to Jordie,” Jamie says suddenly, and his voice is pained and he goes to turn his head away but.

It wasn’t a no, it wasn’t an ‘I don’t feel the same way’ so Tyler does the only think he can think of and kisses him.

Jamie kisses exactly like Tyler thought he would – like he’s pouring everything he’s feeling into the kiss, all careful touches and soft lips and the promise of the best thing Tyler has ever had.

And Tyler has never believed before that a kiss could be earth-shattering and important and all-changing and just so goddamn good but it is and Tyler can’t stop it, not now, not when he’s finally getting to experience it…

Jamie breaks away from him and Tyler’s chest is heaving so much he feels like he ran a marathon.

“Jamie, I’m…”

“I can’t do this to him, Tyler. I can’t, I…” and Jamie looks heartbroken and lost when he says it and Tyler understands where he’s coming from, he does, but he also never wants to see him so upset ever again.

“Jamie, it’s not real. This thing with me and Jordie… it’s not real,” he says immediately, because he can’t lie to Jamie anymore. 

Jamie freezes. “What do you mean it’s not real?”

And Tyler knows that he’s not supposed to do this but he looks at Jamie and he’s weak and has no self-control and who was he kidding, he never fucking stood a chance.

“It’s not… we’re not in love. I’m only marrying him so I can stay in Canada. He’s not in love with me. He’s not even gay. And I’m definitely not in love with him. Not with him.”

Jamie is staring at him with his mouth hanging open.

“Why did you do it then? And why did he agree to this?”

“He… He offered it when I needed a solution to not go back to Greece. He thought it could, I don’t know, be used to get back at your grandparents or something. It was mostly for my sake, though, really. But…” 

He takes a deep breath.

“Jamie. I know it’s a lot to process, but… if you ask me not to marry him, then I won’t. I won’t,” Tyler says eventually because he can’t take his silence anymore and he doesn’t even know where that thought came from but once he said it, he knows that it’s what he wants. He knows that’s literally all that he wants. “Ask me not to marry him.”

“But… I can’t. Tyler, you can’t ask me that,” Jamie says eventually, and Tyler’s heart promptly shatters into a million pieces. “I can’t ask you that because you need to stay here and you need to marry him for that and… I can’t, Tyler. Not like this.”

And Tyler knows he’s right, he knows that even if Jamie did ask him to do that, that wouldn’t solve anything but… Tyler kissed Jamie and he doesn’t think that he’ll be able to walk down the aisle to marry another man tomorrow – not after he experienced _this_.

But he… he needs to marry Jordie, he realizes, he needs to and Jamie is right about that. If he doesn’t, he loses all this, all the things he could finally have here. He’ll even lose Jamie, too.

Jamie said that he has a home here now and he could lose that.

They are so busy staring at each other that they don’t even here when the door opens behind them.

“What… what is going on here?” Jenny asks suddenly, and Tyler realizes that his hand is still fisted into Jamie’s T-shirt and they’re barely an inch apart and…

“How could you fucking do this?” Jamie asks and he’s moving away, and shit, now he’s shouting and he’s looking at Jordie and Tyler wants it all to stop but it’s so far out of his control, he can’t do anything anymore.

“What are you even…”

“Don’t even pretend, Jordie. How could you agree to this? How could you walk back in here and shout about your fake gay engagement from the fucking rooftops when you knew that I’ve had to keep my mouth shut about this my whole life? How could you be so cruel?” 

“Jamie, I…”

“And the worst thing is that you fucking lied about it. I wouldn’t have cared if you just told me, you idiot. But you let me believe that I was the asshole for falling in fucking love with your fiancé while you were out their battling the big gay battles in the family for us – and now, it was all a big fucking lie. Did you at least enjoy it? That you could use your sexuality as a big fucking scandal? Because it’s all that is to you, right? Something that could upset people because that was what you always wanted – to be the fucking center of attention and you don’t care, you never cared, who gets hurt in the middle of it.”

“Jamie,” and now it’s Jenny who tries to stop them but Jamie shakes his head.

“Don’t. I can’t stay here,” he says.

He looks at Jordie again. “I hate you. I hate you so fucking much,” he says and his voice breaks and then he takes the stairs to the door, grabs his jacket, and he disappears without even looking back.

*

**JORDIE**

“What the fuck did you do?” 

And Jordie doesn’t want to shout at Tyler, he wasn’t planning on his words to come out so harsh because Tyler is already on the verge of tears as Jamie slams the door behind himself, and Jordie is not cruel but all of Jamie’s words felt like tiny daggers stabbing straight into his heart, and he needs an explanation from Tyler, from anyone, right the fuck now.

“I… I think I fucked up,” Tyler says.

Jordie bites back his immediate ‘tell me something I don’t know’.

“Tyler,” he says instead. “Did you tell him?”

“I kissed him,” Tyler says and he’s still staring at the door where Jamie disappeared.

“You did… what?” and yeah, Jordie is losing his cool now. “Are you… wait a second. Are you in love with him or something?”

“Shit,” Jenny whispers from where she’s still standing next to Jordie, hanging onto the bottle they just purchased with eyes wide open as she’s also putting the story together piece by piece. All of them sobered up pretty fucking quickly apparently.

“So what you’re telling me is that one day before we are set to get married for your fucking citizenship you go and kiss my brother? And then proceed to tell him that you’re not only in love with him but that we’ve been lying to him for this whole time – lying about something that he’s been struggling with his entire life?” and Jordie knew all along that what they did was bad but saying this out loud, seeing Tyler’s face and hearing Jamie’s words…

It’s really, really fucked up and Jordie doesn’t know how this could have been going on in front of his eyes without him realizing it – without him realizing how stupid they were.

“You’re in love with him, right?” Jordie asks finally when Tyler says nothing. And Jordie is asking because he needs to hear this from Tyler, to have it confirmed once and for all – but Jordie also knows the answer before he can even open his mouth, because it’s so fucking obvious, how did he not notice this? How was he so preoccupied with worrying about Jamie falling for Tyler when Tyler was doing the exact same thing?

Tyler nods.

Jordie very slowly exhales the air he’s been keeping in.

“I can’t marry you, Tyler. I can’t do this to Jamie,” he says finally.

And that gets Tyler’s attention, and now he’s the one who’s staring at Jordie with wide eyes.

“Jordie, if you don’t marry me then… you know what we’ll happen. Jordie,” he says, and shit, he’s actually crying now but Jordie can’t do this. Not now, not here, not with Tyler. Not like this, for fuck’s sake.

“So now you’re expecting me to walk down the aisle tomorrow knowing full well that I’m breaking my brother’s heart?”

“Jordie,” Tyler tries again but Jordie shakes his head.

“He’s in love with you, Tyler. And you’re in love with him. I can’t… you can’t ask me to do that to him. Not like this.”

And he hates that Tyler crumbles in front of him, and Jenny whispers Jordie’s name but… what do they expect from him here? 

“I know you’re upset, Jordie, but… you promised me you would do this with me. For me. I need you to do this, Jordie, you know that,” Tyler says eventually, and his eyes are still shining with tears, some held back and some angrily spilling down his face, but his voice is surprisingly composed. “And I understand that you’re upset and I’m sorry about it, but I… I need you, Jordie. I need you to be there for me. I can’t go back.”

And Jordie. Jordie doesn’t know anything anymore.

“I need time to think,” Jordie says.

And Tyler clearly wants to say something but he just takes a deep breath and nods.

“Okay. Take your time. I’ll go now and I’ll let you think but… I’ll be there tomorrow morning to marry you and I hope… I hope you’ll be there, too,” Tyler says finally, and he gets up from the couch with surprising grace.

Jordie can’t say anything, and probably for the first time in their life, Jenny is also looking back at him with no answers.

Tyler gets Marshall from their room who whines as he gets woken up, and with a puppy in his one hand and his wedding suit in his other, Tyler walks back to them in the living room.

Jordie would love to laugh at him because any other day he’d see how ridiculous Tyler looks with those things in his hand – but today he looks at him and all he sees is the living embodiment of Jordie’s fuck-up.

“Can I… can you please take care of him until tomorrow? I’m not sure any hotel would…”

“Tyler, you don’t have to go to a hotel,” Jordie says eventually even though he doesn’t actually want to be in the same place with him. He doesn’t even know if he’s that angry with him for telling Jamie or for whatever the fuck else he just blew up at him for. 

What he’s most afraid of is that he’ll tell Tyler something that he couldn’t forgive himself for.

“I do. Just please, take care of him,” he says and Jordie is pissed and confused and he really has no fucking idea what he’s supposed to do here, but he immediately opens his arms to take the dog from Tyler.

“Of course.”

“I… I’ll call you tomorrow. And I’ll be there at the orchard, too, but, like, if you really want to say no… I’ll get that, too. I know… I know I fucked up and I hope that at least you and Jamie will be okay,” he says finally and then he doesn’t wait for Jordie’s answer just moves to the door with his wedding suit still in his hand.

The door barely even closes behind him when Jordie turns to Jenny.

“Can you please go with him? I… I know I fucked up and I know you’re mad at me and you can tell me all that tomorrow and I swear I’ll listen but right now, I need him to have someone with him. And I can’t ask anyone else.”

Jenny doesn’t say anything at first but then she nods.

“I’m mad at you,” she says finally when she has her bag in her hand. “But I also understand why you did what you did and I know Jamie will get it, too, eventually.”

Jordie makes a non-committal sound. He wishes he could be so sure.

“It’s going to be okay, Jord,” she says, and gives him the quickest of hugs and then she’s also gone. 

And then Jordie starts thinking.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler might get left at the altar today but he’ll at least do it in style.

**TYLER**

When Tyler imagined the morning of his wedding day, he most certainly did not imagine something like this. He definitely thought he’d be marrying the love of his life, for one – that sounds like a given in most people’s lives who marry out of their free will. He also thought that on the morning of his wedding day, he could at least be certain that the guy he’s marrying will actually show up to the altar. Okay, he’s pretty sure that no one can be _absolutely_ certain of that, and well, after all, there are people who do get left at the altar – he just never imagined himself to be one of those people.

Jenny sighs as she fixes his lapel.

“He still hasn’t answered?” she asks and she looks more concerned than Tyler has ever seen her.

Tyler thought that Jenny would, for sure, be furious with both him and Jordie after last night but she was surprisingly quick to move past her issues. Or maybe Tyler just looked pathetic enough with all the crying and the whole ‘I’ll probably get left at the altar tomorrow and I’m also actually in love with my fiancé’s brother who is possibly also in love with me but still said a very clear no to me because we kind of have been lying to him for weeks with his brother’ thing going on for him, that Jenny probably thought that he has already suffered his punishment. Tenfold.

Really, she barely even said anything about what a pair of idiots she thought he and Jordie were. She mentioned it maybe once but then she hugged Tyler and let him cry on her shoulder and then put him to bed after making him drink the largest glass of water – she’s been basically a superstar through all this.

“Nope,” Tyler says and just the be sure, he checks his phone again. He’s sent at least ten messages to Jordie, called him a couple times, too, but Jordie was still off the grid. “And you also haven’t heard from Jamie?”

“Nope,” she echoes his answer and then she steps back to look at Tyler’s outfit from afar. Tyler might get left at the altar today but he’ll at least do it in style.

Tyler’s phone buzzes and he gets it out of his pocket so quickly, it almost flies across the room.

“It’s my dad,” he sighs. “They’re here and he wants to see me.”

Jenny makes a face. “You want to tell him what happened?”

“I really, really don’t, Jenny. I could probably list you a thousand other things I would rather be doing,” Tyler says. “I just… have a feeling he’s going to notice when my fiancé doesn’t show up to the wedding?”

“He’s going to come, Tyler.”

“Why… how are you so sure about that?”

“Because I have known him my entire life. And he’s an idiot and he’s useless and I could spend hours cataloguing all his faults but do you know what he also is? He’s so incredibly loyal that he couldn’t possible leave you alone in this.”

And Tyler wants to believe her, he really does, it’s just… “So what if he’s more loyal to Jamie than he is to me?”

Jenny is silent for a long second.

“He knows that not marrying you is not actually going to help his case with Jamie. As much as Jordie, and maybe even Jamie acts like it, the problem is not this wedding – and not having this wedding will also not solve the problem. For either of you.”

“I was really looking forward to having you as my sister,” Tyler says eventually, and Jenny smiles at him.

“Oh, but you already have me as a sister. You’re not getting rid of me, Ty, no matter what today brings. I seem to be collecting idiots for little brothers, and you fit right in,” she says and Tyler can’t help but let out a little, almost startled laugh at that.

*

Tyler and his dad don’t have a complicated relationship. They’re not close but they’re not strangers either – they text and like each other’s Instagram posts and call each other at least once a week to check in with the other. When Tyler came out, his dad hugged him and told him it was okay and that he loved him and after a couple minutes of trying to get adjusted to this new situation, he asked Tyler if he still wanted to come to the United game with him that Saturday.

Tyler laughed at him and told him that just because he likes guys, he still likes football and that was that. When they went to the game that weekend, his dad even mentioned how fit van Persie looked, and Tyler almost choked on the hot tea he was drinking. It was a good day – slightly awkward but definitely good.

Tyler and his dad are not close but he’s still the one thing that is the closest to Tyler’s definition of home so when he spots him coming up the stairs of the farmhouse, accompanied by Jenny and his dad’s new wife and baby, his heart swells up with happiness – which is a welcome difference to the rest of his day so far.

“Dad,” he says immediately and his dad looks up at him.

“Son,” he says, and hearing his deep voice, the Greek words flowing from his lips, Tyler finds himself relax for the first time since last night.

The hug he gets from his dad is the tightest he ever remembers getting from him, and they don’t let go of each other for almost a minute.

“I missed you so much,” Tyler murmurs in his dad’s ears, and even though he almost struggles with the Greek words, the way his dad squeezes him even tighter after hearing them makes it all good.

“I missed you, too, son,” he says. His voice cracks on the words, and knowing that it’s not just Tyler who’s getting emotional stirs something deep in Tyler’s heart. 

His dad lets go of him eventually, and then holds him at arm’s length so he can look over him from top to bottom. “You look great. I can’t believe we’re here for your wedding.”

Tyler laughs. “I can’t believe that either. But I’m so happy you’re here. I really am.”

“Wouldn’t miss this for the world,” his dad says with a wide smile. “And where’s that future husband of yours? I can’t wait to meet him.”

Tyler almost says ‘I can’t wait for that either’ but he manages to keep his mouth shut.

“He’s getting ready,” he says instead because he doesn’t want to get into the messy parts immediately, and then looks at Kathrine, his dad’s wife holding his little sister in her arms. She’s wearing a fluffy pastel pink dress and she even has an adorable flower crown in her hair. “How did she manage the flight? Was she okay?” Tyler asks looking at them, switching back to English.

Her sister was apparently an angel on both of their flights, and Tyler sees the pride on his dad’s and Kathrine’s face, and any other day, he’d might feel jealousy because of that or, at least, some sort of bittersweet sadness – but today he’s just really happy to see them all there. He even takes his little sister in his arms and walks around with her while Jenny tells his dad and Kathrine how today’s agenda looks like and Tyler knows that he should be the one sharing it with them but Tyler also doesn’t believe that he could say all that with a straight face when he knows that it’s most probably not even going to happen. 

And really, Tyler can only blame his own stupidity so he should immediately stop with this pathetic self-deprecating…

“Hi,” he hears from behind him while he’s showing his little sister the view from the window and Tyler turns around so quickly, he almost drops her.

“Jord,” he says and he wants to say so many things suddenly that he ends up saying exactly none of them.

Jordie is standing near him and he’s wearing his wedding suit which – Tyler doesn’t want to get his hopes up but why would he be wearing his wedding suit if he wasn’t planning on getting married? 

That’s… that has to be a good sign. Tyler needs it to be a good sign.

“Can we talk?” Jordie asks and his face is a blank canvas that Tyler can’t even begin to decipher so he does the only thing he can, and nods.

When he and Jordie walk back to his family to deposit her sister with Kathrine and his dad, he sees the moment Jenny spots Jordie. She smiles and then she frowns and then she smiles again, this time a more cautious one, and Tyler would laugh at her reaction if he could concentrate on literally anything else other than his thoughts about Jordie and what his presence here might mean for him – for _them_.

“You must be Jordie,” Tyler’s dad says, and Tyler freezes up because what is he supposed to say here, what is he even – but then Jordie just extends his right hand to his dad, introduces himself and manages to charm Tyler’s entire family in about two minutes without even trying. By the time he excuses himself and Tyler from the conversation, Tyler is pretty sure he managed to get the approval of the whole Seguin family and Tyler should not even be surprised at that – what else did he even expect? Jordie is the king of charm.

They walk up to the room Tyler used to get changed in – a small room with a great view of the orchard where they can see the chairs and tables already set up for the ceremony. From up there, it seems like it’s only a handful seats. It’s not actually that much more in reality, either: their guest list was surprisingly small when they put it together, and the wedding definitely ended up being on the smaller size with only close family and a couple of Jordie’s friends being able to attend on such short notice.

Tyler should also not be thinking about the guest list of their wedding that might not even happen because Jordie is standing in the middle of the room in front of Tyler and he clearly wants to say something.

For a long second, both of them are just staring at the other, not knowing where to start.

“I have a bunch of things I feel like I need to say here, Tyler, but I’m going to start with the most important one, okay? I’m really, truly sorry,” Jordie says almost at the same moment when Tyler finally decides to open his own mouth to break the awkward silence between them.

“Sorry for…” Tyler asks and he’s not being obtuse on purpose but is Jordie sorry that he can’t marry him or is he sorry for yesterday? Because those two thing are decidedly not the same and Tyler kind of needs him to be precise with this one.

“For making you believe that I wouldn’t show up today. It was seriously not cool of me, and I’m sorry for that. Also for shouting yesterday, I was just…”

“Understandably upset because of Jamie, I know. And I know I told you this already but I am truly so sorry for this whole thing between you and Jamie. It was so stupid of me to tell him everything and I’d understand you if you would never forgive me for that. I know how important he is to you.”

“Well, I’m clearly not the only one he’s important to,” Jordie says and he raises one of his eyebrows at Tyler.

“Touché,” Tyler says and when he smiles at Jordie, he’s eternally relieved that Jordie smiles back.

“This is not how I pictured our wedding day,” Jordie says eventually. “But I guess a stupid plan needs a clearly stupid ending so I should have expected it.”

“Well now you agree with me that it was stupid.”

“I agreed with you on that before, too. But really, would you actually change it if you could?” Jordie asks.

Tyler thinks back at the month he’s had in Vancouver, the endless happiness he’s felt in the Benn household, the jokes, the bickering, and even the stupid Friday night dinners… and now that Jordie is saying it, no, Tyler wouldn’t change it. Yeah, today is a mess and yesterday was a mess and tomorrow is still probably going to be a mess but the rest of it? The rest was not something Tyler would ever want to give up on.

“Maybe parts of it. Like the lying to Jamie part. That was… not the smartest thing to do,” Tyler says.

“Yeah, no. I mean, if you could have just not fallen in love with my brother? That would have been a great thing, you know?” Jordie says but he’s clearly joking so Tyler can’t even feel as guilty as maybe he should be.

“So you still want to marry me? Because I hate to break it to you, but the ceremony is going to start in about 20 minutes so if I’m going to be left at the altar, I’ll might try to use this 20 minutes to, like, prepare for that. There might be a YouTube tutorial on it.”

“Or a WikiHow article. That could be super useful, too,” Jordie says with an amused smile. “But no, I’m totally here to marry you.”

“Even after all this?”

“Especially after all this. What was that thing you said in the car? In sickness and in health? In good times and in bad times?” Jordie asks.

“Are you telling me you didn’t even learn the vows for the wedding, Jord?” Tyler laughs but then Jordie doesn’t actually answer him which is – it’s slightly alarming.

“… I was supposed to?”

“Oh my god. You’re joking, right?”

Jordie bursts out laughing. “Of course, I am. It was, like what, six lines? Even I can remember that.”

Tyler shakes his head. “You scared me there for a second, I’m not going to lie.”

“It will be okay, Ty. And I mean it. Because while I’m sorry that this whole thing turned into a mess and I’m sorry for how things are between me and Jamie, and especially you and Jamie, but… You are my best friend and this is not going to change – not any time soon, not _ever_. You’re family to me, and maybe we’re never really going to be a family in the traditional sense or whatever, but as I said you’re my best friend and my partner in crime – in _literal_ crime, for God’s sake – and a bunch of other things I could totally use in a wedding, too, and yeah, maybe we’re not in love and you’re not the love of my life, but… who cares now? We’ve started this stupid thing together and we’ll finish this stupid thing together. And then tomorrow we’ll figure out the next step, and how to fix this with Jamie and how to manage our life as fake husbands – but that’s a problem for tomorrow. Today, we’re going to walk down the aisle and you’re going to say I do and I’m going to say I do, and we’re going to crush this marriage thing. We’re going to crush this together.”

And of course, now Tyler is crying but he doesn’t even care because that – that was all Tyler wanted to hear. All he ever wanted to hear.

“You’re the best, Jord, you know that, right?” he says eventually because he’s feeling so much, he’s not sure he could ever put it into words. 

He thinks Jordie gets what he wants to say.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Jordie says eventually and when Jenny pokes her head in the door to tell them that it’s almost time, all she sees is that they’re clutching at each other’s arms and they’re laughing.

“Showtime,” Tyler whispers and Jordie pokes him in his rib.

*

**JORDIE**

This is decidedly not how Jordie imagined the day of his wedding would go but he’s not actually complaining. 

And the thing is, he should probably be the most surprised by his choice of partner (he never really pictured himself getting married to a guy, no matter how open-minded he became in the last couple years) or maybe how small the wedding actually turned out to be (his initial thought of organizing a big fat Greek gay wedding was abandoned about two days into preparations because of how few people were actually able to make it and because well, Jordie was way too lazy to make any of that happen). And he is surprised about all that, he truly is, but what he is the most surprised by is the lack of his brother at this so-called wedding.

If there’s one thing Jordie has always pictured, if there’s one thing he always took for granted and as a given and a complete inevitable – that was Jamie being there, standing by his side, smiling as Jordie said yes to the love of his life.

But Jamie’s not here. And it’s five minutes before he and Tyler are supposed to walk down the aisle and everyone is already seated and the empty chair in the first row where Jamie is supposed to be sitting feels like a twist in Jordie’s heart every time he spots it.

And the thing is, he still wants to believe that he and Jamie will be okay – that he can fix this somehow in the future. Because he’s done stupid shit before and Jamie forgave him for all that and Jordie doesn’t want to take him for granted but he truly believes that Jamie will forgive him for this, too. It still doesn’t change the fact that Jordie is getting married and his brother is not here to share it with him, and even though it would probably feel weird for all parties involved if he _was_ here, it’s still… it’s still a bittersweet feeling.

“He’s not here,” Jordie says as he and Tyler are waiting about a hundred feet from where the ceremony is going to be taking place. They have decided that they would be walking in together to avoid the whole ‘who’s the bride and who’s the groom’ stupidity and they have maybe three minutes left before they have to leave. And maybe Jordie shouldn’t bring up his brother who his fiancé is totally in love with, not being there at their wedding but the words are out of Jordie’s mouth before he could stop them.

“No,” Tyler says but he’s not looking at Jordie.

“You really like him, don’t you? Like, you love him?” Jordie says and again, he realizes that this might not be the best time for them to discuss this but – well, no better time than the present, right?

“He’s just… He’s so great, you know?”

“He’s not ugly, I guess,” Jordie allows. “It seems to run in the family.”

Tyler snorts. “It’s not even just that, though. I mean, sure he’s, like, the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, yeah, but he’s also so incredibly kind and funny and he has these great ambitions and he hates fighting but he’s willing to do that for the people he cares about and he… he always listens, you know? Like, actually listens,” Tyler says.

And it’s not how Jordie would have described his own brother but he knows that Tyler is right and – just thinking about the fact that Tyler knows his brother this well and he loves him because of all this and despite all this, it makes things to Jordie’s heart that he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with.

“You know, I feel like I should be jealous and all because we’re literally getting married in a minute or so and you’re waxing poetic about another guy but… shit, you would have been so good for each other. This is slightly ridiculous.”

Tyler lets out a little, high-pitched laugh that sounds a bit hysterical if Jordie’s being completely honest. But Jordie also feels like he gets where Tyler’s coming from. A little bit a hysteria seems understandable at the moment. “Jord, I feel like this is not the best time for you to give us your blessing.”

And yeah, he does have a point there.

“We are so fucked up,” Jordie says in the end.

Tyler nods. “The most fucked up, yeah.”

And with that, the wedding planner starts to wave for them from underneath one of the apple trees, and with a final look and grin they start walking down the aisle with hands firmly gripping each other.

The truly ridiculous thing is that they don’t even make it to the actual aisle; they are still a couple feet from even the last row of their waiting audience when it happens. And really, Jordie knows he should have seen a lot of things coming. He should have seen Tyler falling in love with Jamie because his brother is one of the best people he’s ever met, and he should have seen his grandfather trying to pay him off because that’s just who he is, and he probably even should have seen himself still trying to go through with everything for Tyler’s sake because that’s who _he_ is – but this?

He should have seen Jamie finally deciding to fight for what he wants from the very first day he has laid eyes on Tyler. They never stood a chance.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... how are we today? Everyone feeling good?


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tyler,” Jordie hears as he and Tyler are about to reach the end of the aisle.

**JORDIE**

“Tyler,” Jordie hears as he and Tyler are about to reach the end of the aisle. They both freeze immediately, but for an incredibly long second, neither of them turn around – neither quite believing that they actually heard what they heard.

“Tyler,” Jamie says again, this time even louder and from even closer as he finally catches up with them.

He was clearly running after them from god knows where and for god knows how long and he’s breathing heavily, and Jordie might be losing his mind or something, but there’s one, insane moment before all hell breaks loose when his only thought is that it was actually kind of nice of Jamie to put on his nice suit for his dramatic ‘I object’ moment. 

Because that’s clearly an ‘I object’ moment. Jordie has seen enough romcoms to know what’s happening here, he’s not dumb. 

But then, yeah, back to the all hell breaking loose part.

The music is still going on around them, almost mocking them, but Jamie’s shouting was loud enough for the entire wedding party to hear so now everyone is turning around and they’re looking at Jordie and Tyler and then Jamie and… well, confused seems to be one word that could potentially describe their feelings. Scandalized could also be a contender. Outraged? Definitely. Delighted for the perfect piece of gossip happening right in front of their very eyes? Check, check, check – jackpot.

Jordie doesn’t actually spend a lot of time looking at other people’s face, though, because, well, he has front row seats to whatever this thing is that’s currently happening in front of him.

“Jamie?” Tyler asks when Jamie doesn’t seem to continue his moment. Like, Jordie’ll give him points for the outfit and the dramatic entrance but he does need to say some more words for it to actually work. ‘I object’ would be a great one – though, now that Jordie’s thinking about this, they haven’t even got to the whole ‘speak now or forever hold your peace part’. He is not even sure he and Tyler actually asked for that to be included – so really, they are totally not ready for such a romcom-y moment.

“This is not how I wanted this to go, shit,” Jamie says and Tyler freezes up completely next to Jordie.

“What do you…”

“I love you, Tyler,” Jamie says, and the words almost burst out of him like he can’t keep them in anymore, and Jordie doesn’t know if he even had cue cards or anything but he’s pretty sure now Jamie is just winging it. “I love you, okay? I’ve loved you from that very first fucking moment, and I… I can’t let you do this.”

There are several gasps coming from the wedding party and it’s not like Jordie can fault them for it. He feels like he should have a fan in his hands to cool himself down because this is too much, even for him. Or like a fainting couch – he, for sure, needs a fainting couch. 

“Jamie, you know I…” Tyler starts, clearly completely shaken up but Jamie doesn’t let him finish his words.

“Tell me you don’t love me and I’ll go. But you asked me yesterday to ask you not to do this and… I’m here. And I’m asking you. Because I know that I was an idiot yesterday, and I know that you were an idiot for the past I don’t know how many weeks but I also know that I have never felt like this – never in my whole life. I fell in love with you on that very first day, and I kept falling in love with you more and more, every single day, even when I knew I wasn’t supposed to and… I tried to get over you but I couldn’t and I don’t think you can either and… You’re so incredible, Tyler. Even when I was trying to get over you, when I was trying to convince myself that I wasn’t allowed to feel these things about you, even _then_ I knew that I didn’t actually want my feelings to go away because you’re amazing and beautiful and so fucking brave and I want to… I want to _want_ you in my life. I want to love you even if I’m not supposed to. So, please, don’t do this. Please tell me you feel the same way. Because if you do… if you do, then I can’t let you do this.”

“You know that I love you, you idiot. You know that,” Tyler whispers immediately and he can’t seem to look away from Jamie who’s been in the same boat for the last couple minutes. It’s like they’re in their own little bubble and the outside world has completely ceased to exist for them, even though Tyler is still hanging onto Jordie’s hand like his life depends on it.

“I know why you’re doing this and I’ll promise you that everything’s going to be okay, alright? Can you trust me, Ty? Can you trust me that it’s going to be okay?” 

Tyler is breathing really heavily but he nods. “I’ve always trusted you, Jamie.”

And that finally makes Jamie smile, his face melting into something almost inexplicable. “Don’t do this, please, Tyler. Don’t marry him,” he says finally.

And for a long, excruciatingly long moment, Tyler doesn’t say anything but then he looks at Jordie and Jordie nods and then Tyler lets go of his hand that he’s been holding onto with a death grip for minutes and then he crashes, literally _crashes_ into Jamie’s arms who’s there to catch him and…

Jordie realizes he’s being left at the altar, he does – but looking at them, together fucking finally after all this shit, he doesn’t think he could possibly be feeling any happier.

Except for the fact that they’re still almost in the literal middle of another wedding ceremony and well, there’s definitely kissing happening (more like making out at this point), it’s just that it’s between the groom and the brother-in-law and yeah, that doesn’t seem like an ideal outcome to Jordie? Or like it is, sure it is _to him_ , but the wedding party might not be so understanding as he is, and Jordie is painfully aware that he’s supposed to be doing something here, it’s just – what exactly is he supposed to be doing? Start clapping because those two idiots finally got their shit together in the very last minute? Say ‘thanks for coming but raincheck’ to the people so they might go home? He doubts there’s even a WikiHow article on this and that is saying something.

So Jordie is aware of the fact that he needs to do something instead of just standing there and staring at them (and like he’s happy for them but he also doesn’t want to keep looking at his brother making out with another dude) but he’s so shell shocked that he doesn’t even manage to make a single move until Jenny shows up next to him. She was standing up by the altar, acting as Tyler’s maid of honor but she also probably realized that the groom’s priorities have shifted a little bit. A tiny bit.

The expression on her face is slightly scandalized, too, but when she takes a look at Tyler and Jamie, who finally stopped making out in the middle of Jordie’s wedding, and are _only_ holding onto each other standing in the middle of an actual meadow with actual wildflowers, looking like a fucking renaissance painting, and are probably whispering the sappiest things to each other, her face also becomes the fondest Jordie has ever seen in a long time.

“I’m guessing the wedding is off?” she asks and Jordie sighs. So much for the planning, huh?

“I guess they could use some time alone, eh?” he asks as he indicates towards the lovebirds who are still completely oblivious to the outside world. “You’re up for some damage control?”

Jenny laughs. “Always, brother. For you, always,” she says.

So they do some damage control.

*

**TYLER**

So Tyler doesn’t actually get married on his wedding day. Which he feels like should be a thing that makes him feel really upset, but how could he be upset when he is currently sitting on a windowsill in a beautiful farmhouse looking at a beautiful apple orchard next to the most beautiful man on Earth?

Not that Tyler is looking at the orchard. Or the view. Or anything really, apart from Jamie’s eyes. But he knows that every single person in his place would be doing the same exact thing, so don’t judge him.

“I was planning on being a little less dramatic,” Jamie says sheepishly.

Jordie and Jenny (both wearing matching grins tinted with a little bit of ‘you guys are idiots but we still love you’ expressions – it’s a very specific expression, Tyler knows, but it was exactly that) sent them inside to quote unquote ‘sort your sappy shit out’ and decided to deal with the potential fallout of the cancelled wedding.

Because that’s a thing, that is, like, totally sure now – the wedding is very definitely cancelled.

“What, you didn’t actually want to crash the wedding?” Tyler asks and he feels like he should be grinning a little less after literally storming out of his own wedding that was held very specifically for his interests but – he can’t. Like, it’s physically impossible for him to stop grinning – Jamie is right here, and he’s holding Tyler’s hand, and his leg is pressed against Tyler’s – and Tyler just cannot be expected to stop grinning, not under these circumstances, that’s humanly impossible. 

“I wanted to get here earlier, to like catch you before you could do something stupid.”

“Something stupid as in getting married to your brother?” Tyler says and he hopes they are already in the ‘let’s joke about this stupid shit that we just pulled’ territory because Tyler has no other coping mechanism.

“Yeah,” Jamie says and then goes and literally blushes like it was him who should be feeling ashamed and not Tyler. This man.

“You cut it kind of close, Jamie, I’m not going to lie,” Tyler says.

Jamie starts to draw circles into Tyler’s palm and has Tyler mentioned lately how happy he is? Because he’s, like, really happy. Just for the record.

“I needed to get something sorted first,” Jamie says. “Because I couldn’t… I knew I couldn’t come here and ask you not to do this when I knew why you were doing this. I… I’m selfish but not that selfish, right?” 

And Tyler is… Tyler is not so happy now that he remembers that he very much has no fucking idea what he’s going to do with his future and where he’s going to live – and frankly, both of these sound like quite pertinent pieces of information to him. That’s one great way of pulling him back from cloud nine. Now he’s firmly on the ground again.

“Jamie, you are the least selfish person I have ever met in my life,” Tyler says instead of saying all that because – well, again, Tyler doesn’t have a lot of excuses in his arsenal for any of the things he’s done lately, but the fact that Jamie is just here, next to Tyler, smiling and breathing and existing, seems to be the answer for everything he’s been doing lately. Tyler is a fool – but he is a happy fool which, no matter what anyone says, is so much better than being smart. 

Okay, maybe not all the time but still. Technicalities.

“No, I’m not,” Jamie protests immediately.

“Yes, you are, but go on,” he says and he sees that Jamie still doesn’t agree but Jamie is very clearly wrong in the given situation.

“So I went to my grandparents’ place. To, like, ask them for… I don’t even know what. I literally went in, sat down at the breakfast table and told my grandma between like two bites of croissants that I am very sorry that they hate the fact that I’m gay but I can’t change it and that if they want to do one thing to stop all their grandchildren from forever turning on them, then they will help you get your citizenship or residence or whatever sorted without this wedding having to happen.”

Tyler has done absolutely nothing to prepare himself for this situation. 

“You did… what?”

Jamie huffs a little laugh and continues. “You should have seen their faces, oh my god,” he says and he runs his fingers through his hair, completely messing it up. “They were so shocked, I’ve never seen them like that. I’m pretty sure that they thought I’ve lost my mind or something.”

“And what did they say?”

“Nothing, at first. Tried to talk me out of this but then… I don’t know what was going on behind the scenes but there was something… I can’t explain it, but I feel like they were already disagreeing over something that they said Jordie told them – don’t ask me what, I have no idea – but then when they were done with their own fight, my grandpa left to make a phone call and then my grandma left to make a phone call and then grandpa left to make another call and I was just sitting there waiting…”

“… eating your croissants, don’t forget the important parts, Jamie,” Tyler chimes in and he would probably give his life for the fond eye-roll Jamie does.

“… so I was sitting there, eating my croissant, though I think I was already done with them by that point,” he says and flashes an amused grin at Tyler and it’s the best thing Tyler has ever seen, “but then they came back and they were like ‘it’s done’.”

“Done?”

“I don’t know what they did, and honestly I felt like it’s better if I just didn’t ask but they gave me this,” Jamie continues and grabs a piece of paper from his pocket, “and they told me to give this to you. And then told me that I should probably also stop the ‘circus’ that Jordan is making here. But that was my original plan, too, so like… Yeah. That’s what’s happened.”

“That’s what’s happened,” Tyler echoes after him because he would totally make an intellectual observation here but 1) he can barely wrap his head around the thing Jamie has said and 2) Jamie is still there with his beautiful smile and beautiful face and beautiful everything and Tyler is still not over that. He will, most probably, never be over that.

“Oh, they also said that if the wedding is not happening, then we can all go to dinner to their place tonight,” Jamie says, and it’s so matter-of-factly and so fucking surreal that Tyler just – he just starts laughing.

It’s a little hysterical but his whole day has been quite hysterical so he thinks that’s still allowed.

“That’s great news, Jamie, that was exactly what I was worried about,” he says and Jamie rolls his eyes again. It’s still very fond. And very cute. And very Jamie.

“Open the fucking paper, Tyler,” he says eventually and if he also happens to sneak an arm around Tyler’s waist to pull him closer. Well, Tyler is still very much not complaining.

The paper only contains a name, a date (next Monday 10 am), an address Tyler doesn’t know and a scribbled note that says ‘bring your passport and preferably your birth certificate’. It sounds very mafia-like and very much illegal and Tyler still has no idea what it actually means but he has a feeling that Jamie was right. The less he knows, the better for everyone involved.

“You’ll come with me?” Tyler asks immediately, though, because if it is something illegal and mafia-like then he needs someone to hold his hand while he walks in. Preferably Jamie. He always needs Jamie to hold his hand, but especially when he’s doing shady illegal things. Tyler has learnt his lessons from the otters.

“Yeah. You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Jamie says.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Tyler grins and he wants to kiss Jamie so bad, it’s starting to get into the life-or-death territory.

But like, he can actually kiss Jamie. He’s allowed. It might even be encouraged, too.

So he does.

Which is, of course, the moment Jenny and Jordie come in. (Okay maybe not the exact same moment. Maybe it was a couple minutes later which they also maybe spent with kissing and with like Tyler basically climbing into Jamie’s lap.)

“My eyes,” Jordie groans and he dramatically covers his eyes when he spots them.

Tyler very gracefully returns to his original place. There was absolutely no lap-sitting happening here, he doesn’t know what anyone is talking about.

“Have you ever heard of knocking?” Jamie says and he sounds a bit bitchy but Tyler is fully agreeing with him here, so if he’s bitchy then they’re bitchy together.

“We did,” Jenny says with a pointed look, and oh. Okay then. “Anyway, sorry to like, interrupt your moment here but we thought you might be happy to hear that we managed to send everyone home.”

Oh. The wedding. 

“Oh… they did like…?” Tyler asks but then – what is he really asking here? Did they react nicely and calmly and not like they just witnessed a called off wedding where the groom’s own brother crashed the ceremony?

“They were a bit… confused,” Jenny says. “Understandably, I guess. But Jordie acted the part of the groom who’s heartbroken but who also admitted that you guys rushed this wedding a little bit because of your love triangle or something which is – definitely not the perfect cover story but people seemed to be buying it.”

“So wait, now Jamie is the asshole brother?” Tyler asks and the thought hasn’t even crossed his mind before but now it’s suddenly painfully obvious to him that that’s the case.

“I mean I feel like, and sorry Jamie, but I feel like that’s still better than saying that we were planning on defrauding the government,” Jordie says with a slightly amused smile.

“Ty, that’s fine. I barely even know some of these people. And the rest of the them are going to be fine once they realize that Jordie’s not completely depressed and heartbroken,” Jamie says immediately.

And it’s not like Tyler doesn’t believe him but it still does exactly nothing to help with the guilt that settles in his stomach.

“I… I’m so sorry, guys, I literally fucked this up for everyone and…” Tyler starts to say and he feels that the bubble he felt himself floating in has just completely and irrevocably burst and now he’s landed on the ground with a painful thump.

“No, Tyler, I was the one who crashed the wedding,” Jamie says.

“And to be fair, I was the one who convinced you to have this wedding in the first place,” Jordie adds.

And Tyler – Tyler doesn’t agree with them, not at all, but he loves them a whole lot at that moment. In other moments, too, but he really loves them a lot right now.

“Well, I did nothing wrong,” Jenny adds and Tyler finally lets out a laugh at that. Judging from Jenny’s satisfied little smile, that was what she was aiming for. “Also, your dad said that he’d call you tomorrow to meet up or something. I think he kind of gathered that you would probably have to handle a lot of other stuff today.”

And it’s not like Tyler has completely forgot about his dad but – well, okay, he kind of completely forgot about him. Tyler is a terrible son.

“And not to be super nosy or anything but… you guys talked, right? About things?” Jordie asks and he’s very clearly looking at Tyler and Jamie.

Tyler thinks his sheepish grin matches the one on Jamie’s face. “Yeah,” they say at the same time, even though there’s still a bunch of quite important things they need to discuss. They covered the most important bits, though, right? That has to count - even if it was only the 'I love you', 'I love you too' and the 'here's the probably illegal way for you to stay here' parts.

“So when can we expect the happy announcement?” Jordie says and that shit-eating grin – Tyler missed that shit-eating grin.

Jamie snorts. “I think… I think we’re not going to rush into a wedding any time soon, guys.”

“That’s a great plan. Though, I do have practice in planning a wedding, so like, hit me up if you guys need help,” Jordie says and Tyler groans.

“How long will it take for you to get over this, Jord?”

“Dude, you literally left me at the altar for my brother. I’m milking this until the end of time.”

Okay, maybe Tyler actually does deserve that. 

“Can I also say that I am mad at you guys for one thing?” Jenny asks. “I had a date to this wedding.”

“A date?” Jamie and Jordie ask at the same time, and seriously, Tyler doesn’t think they were this invested in their crashed wedding – Tyler’s feelings are almost hurt.

“Well, I wanted to introduce you all to my boyfriend. But then you had to go and reenact a whole Hallmark movie and… this is literally the first impression he got of my family. If this one leaves me tomorrow, I hope you all know that it was your fault. And I do mean all of you.”

“You can invite him to Friday night dinner?” Jamie asks.

“Oh my god, why would I do that? A crashed wedding with family drama is one thing, Friday night dinner with the grandparents is a completely different issue. What is wrong with you?”

“Honestly, Jenn, this is the perfect opportunity. They won’t even notice if you bring a weird guy to the dinner, they’re going to be all up in our business.”

“He’s going to be terrified! And he’s not weird.”

“He’s always going to be terrified. It’s our grandparents.”

“We’re going to Friday night dinner after all this? I just got left at the altar, isn’t that a get out of Friday night dinner free card?”

“This is not Monopoly, Jordan!”

“I don’t think this is a normal conversation,” Tyler whispers into Jamie’s neck.

No one listens to him as the Benn siblings all try to outshout each other but leaning against Jamie’s shoulder, Tyler doesn’t find it in himself to mind that. To mind anything, really.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you guys this would be a trashy romcom - we needed the 'I object' moment that was not _actually_ an 'I object' moment, I guess.
> 
> Also, PSA: we still have a little bit to go, but I'm not quite certain how I want to divide it into chapters. Right now, I'm leaning towards a final chapter and then an epilogue - which means that you can probably expect the last chapter to be up tomorrow as usual, with the epilogue coming a little later because it is still very much in need of a couple days of work. (Which is not helped by the amount of work I need to do for my real life job.) Hope that's chill with everyone. 
> 
> Comments are still so, so appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They look happy, though – really, really happy and that’s all Jordie needs to know.

**TYLER**

So Tyler was totally planning on taking things slow. He and Jamie have already had an interesting (slightly fucked-up is maybe a better way of putting it) start to whatever this thing is between them, so Tyler fully knows that taking things slow and talking about things like functioning adults, is very much a thing that they should be doing. It’s just – well, the moment Tyler is alone with Jamie in Jamie’s room, he kind of forgets all that.

He’s totally blaming Jamie. If he didn’t look like that and there wasn’t an actual bed literally right next to them, well, then Tyler would have totally been able to control himself and stick to his original plan. Totally.

And they do end up talking – it’s just that the conversation happens a bit more naked and filled with all the post-orgasm feel-good endorphins but that’s not, like, that big of a problem, right? It means they can actually concentrate on the important conversation here, and not on the sexual tension between them.

Okay, Tyler is totally looking for excuses but Jamie has abs, and was he just supposed to _ignore_ that while being confined together with Jamie in a room that has a lock on its door? 

Humanly impossible. Tyler is not even ashamed.

“I feel like we should talk,” Jamie says eventually, and Tyler thinks that he would rather continue his almost-nap, not doing anything just enjoying Jamie running his fingers through Tyler’s hair but, yeah, he knows Jamie’s right, and he’s shutting up in his head and he’s putting his big boy pants on.

Well, he’s not literally putting his pants on. He’s already willing to have this conversation, he can’t also be expected stop all this naked-with-Jamie-in-the-same-bed thing going on as well – that would be ridiculous and absolutely unnecessary.

“Yeah, we should,” Tyler says like he totally did not have a tiny hissy fit in his head just now when Jamie has said the exact same thing.

“Okay, so… God, I don’t even know where we should start this?” 

“I mean, I don’t know either but we’re like…” and Tyler, Jesus Christ, just use your fucking words.

“We’re like…” Jamie says and – is he fucking smirking? That absolute jerk.

“We’re, like, serious, right?”

Serious. That’s the word you’re going with, Tyler, really?

“Are you…” Jamie starts and then all of a sudden, flips them over in the middle of his sentence. Tyler was very comfortable lying half on top of him, what the fuck. Okay, he’s not complaining because now he has all of Jamie above him and that’s a very nice thing to have on top of himself, but still. Rude, Jamie. “Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”

Tyler is very clearly being made fun of right now. He’s totally noticing that.

“I mean… you crashed my wedding. The least you could do is be my boyfriend,” Tyler says eventually and he totally wants it to come out as teasing but he’s also slightly distracted by all the muscles that are suddenly under his hands. There are a lot of muscles he can reach from here.

“I guess,” Jamie says with a grin.

“Well, if you don’t want to be my boyfriend then I guess I can…”

Jamie kisses him. Tyler is pretty sure it’s only to shut him up, but right now, he finds that piece of information quite irrelevant if he’s being honest.

Jamie eventually does pull away, though. Well, not that far away but he does remove his lips from Tyler’s. “Hi, boyfriend,” he says and his voice is so happy, Tyler can’t even make fun of his dorkiness. “Anything else you feel like we need to discuss right now? Apart from the seriousness of our feelings?”

“I mean… I feel like there are a lot of things we should discuss,” Tyler says and he’s truly trying to remember all the things he knows that they need to talk about but Jamie is now kissing his neck and that effectively kills any sort of coherent thought trying to build itself up in his head.

“Like what?” Jamie whispers against his skin.

Tyler takes a deep breath. “Like…”

“Like?” Jesus Christ, Benn, whatever you’re doing should definitely be illegal.

“Okay, I don’t actually know but…” Tyler says and now Jamie’s hand is very definitely trailing down his stomach and…

“Well, if you don’t even remember the things, Ty, I’m sure your very important conversation can be postponed a bit.” 

“You know, Jamie, you act all shy and quiet all the time, but I’m starting to realize that you’re just fooling everyone all the fucking time.”

Jamie presses a kiss to the corner of Tyler’s mouth, lingering and teasing, and Tyler gives up on his trail of thoughts right then and there. Conversation officially postponed.

“I’m a man of many talents.”

And Tyler knows he is a cliché, okay? He thinks that’s already been fully settled and understood and has been basically broadcasted for the entire world to see. But if he is one – then maybe he should just embrace it, right? Own it.

“I guess you should show me your talents, then,” he says and when Jamie laughs, Tyler feels the sound vibrating underneath his hands where he’s holding Jamie.

And you know what? Tyler is really okay with being a cliché if he gets to have this.

And well, their conversation can only be better if they get some extra endorphin, right? It’s science.

*

**JORDIE**

Jordie doesn’t immediately start laughing when Tyler tiptoes out of Jamie’s room in the middle of the afternoon.

No, he only starts laughing when Tyler sees that Jordie is staring at him from his place by the kitchen island and gets this absolutely hilarious deer-in-headlights expression on his face.

“Get it, Ty.”

Tyler sighs. Jordie would feel sorry for him but he also totally deserves to be chirped mercilessly for this whole thing until the end of time. Tyler also probably knows this, too, because even though there’s a lot of laughing happening at his expense, he still walks into the kitchen and takes a seat next to Jordie.

Jordie pours him some coffee because he’s also a great person.

“Had a nice afternoon, pumpkin?”

“You’re not actually asking for deets? Because that would be weird even for us.”

“God no, please feel free to never tell me anything about what you did with my brother’s dick. Or to my brother’s dick, I’m not making any assumptions here, you know, you guys do whatever you want to each other’s…”

“Oh my god, please stop talking about our dicks, Jordie,” Tyler groans and Jordie laughs in his face. Well, it’s not like he wants to be talking about their dicks because that’s creepy and weird, why _would_ he want that, but Tyler is so easy to make fun of, he can’t just ignore that.

“I’m actually happy for you, guys, you know that, right?” Jordie asks because while making fun of Tyler is a very important thing and he must fulfill his duty to do that all the time – but Jordie’s actual support is also something that Tyler should know about. “Like, I could have done without the whole crashed wedding and month-long pining but it’s all well that ends well, right?”

“Thanks, Jord,” Tyler says and he looks so impossibly happy, he’s basically radiating with it. “It’s not going to change things between us, right?”

“I’m not going to go back to being engaged to you. That train is long gone, Ty, I’m not sure if you noticed that or…”

Tyler rolls his eyes. “No, I’m quite happy with our non-engaged status. But like… you’re still my best friend, right? That’s still the same? And you’re not, like, I don’t know, upset over anything, right?”

“I told you this literally this morning. You are my best friend – my brother – and that is never going to change.”

“Because I’m so happy that things are working out with Jamie and really, Jordie, I never thought I could be, just, so happy with someone – and I know we have been together for like two minutes, you don’t have to point that out – but… I feel like you were willing to do this huge thing for me and I just… I don’t want you to think that I’m not so incredibly thankful to you for that.”

“Tyler, I get it if you want to say thank you for this. You can, and I’ll even say you’re welcome if that’s what you want to hear. But this is what friends do. This is what family is supposed to do. And if I could give you one piece of advice – which feel free not to take because who am I to act all high and mighty here – but… you should learn to accept help. And not even just learning to ask for it but accepting it when people want to help you. Because I know it’s hard but – that’s what love without conditions really is, right? Not just loving the other people despite their faults – like, sure, that too – but it’s also loving people and being there for people through the bad times. Through the worst times and helping them. Without conditions.”

And Jordie was not planning on giving Tyler a fucking life lesson but now that he’s started, he can’t seem to stop his words.

“And I’m telling you this because I’m always going to be here to help but also because Jamie is honestly the kindest person I’ve ever met in my entire life and he’s the sort of person who’s going to be there for you no matter what.”

“I want to be that person, too, you know,” Tyler adds.

“I know. But also accept that it goes both ways. And don’t be a martyr, okay? If shit is bad tell him and tell me, and we’re going to figure it out. And we’ll do the same. I know why you are the way you are and I get it just – make sure you remember what I said, okay?”

“I love you, man, you know that, right?” Tyler says eventually and if he sounds a little choked up, Jordie is not going to call him out on it. Jordie himself might be biting back a couple tears. It's that kind of a day.

“Love you, too,” he says and pulls Tyler into a one-armed hug. “But no homo, right?”

Tyler laughs and Jordie lets go of him.

“I’m saving all the homo for you brother, don’t worry,” he says with a smirk.

“I’m actually upset about our vows, dude, though. My vows were kickass and now, no one will know it. Like, I made so many jokes at your expense, it was amazing. I started with how within like a minute of meeting me, you literally told me how hot I was.”

“In my defense, maybe three sentences later I asked you if your brother was hot,” Tyler adds and oh god, he did, didn’t he? Jordie really was blind.

“So I’m guessing you’re also moving out of our room?”

Tyler blushes immediately and Jordie hopes he’s going to keep doing that because it’s absolutely hilarious and it means that Jordie will forever and ever have a come-back comment in his arsenal. Those idiots basically handed him those on a silver plate with their sickeningly sweet feelings.

“We haven’t actually talked about that yet,” Tyler says.

“I get it, you probably had other very important matters you needed to attend to,” and Tyler is so incredibly red, it’s glorious. It’s way too easy. “I mean, we do have an extra room in the penthouse – two extra rooms to be exact – so you can claim one as yours, if you want to. If you don’t want to rush into anything. But the walls are also quite thick, if you know what I mean,” Jordie says.

“Thanks. But isn’t it going to be weird, though? If I just keep living here? We literally just got together, that seems way too fast.”

“I mean it looks slightly questionable that you literally moved from my bed to Jamie’s…

“Jordie,” Tyler groans.

“… but I’m pretty sure, and I’m speaking on behalf of the whole Benn residence here, that we would all want you to stay here with us. It’s like… there’s a reason the three of us stayed together even though we could be living separately. I like living with family and you’re definitely family. In probably a very weird non-traditional way, but family nonetheless. So like, please talk to Jamie about this, too, because, you know, honest communication, but I’d be very surprised if he thought differently.”

Tyler is very quiet for a second.

“One day I’m going to learn how to talk about my feelings and then you’re going to understand how it feels when someone literally pours their whole heart just _right_ at you,” Tyler says eventually, but his voice is definitely full of something very feeling-y.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” Jordie says, holding up a hand in mock surrender. “No more feelings for today, I promise."

“Thank you. I’ll go and cuddle my puppy now.”

“Tell your puppy that we’re leaving for Friday night dinner in about two hours, because now he’s going to be the one who’s showing up with a gay lover on his arm after crashing his own brother’s wedding. He needs to prepare for that.”

“I meant my actual dog, you heathen.”

Jordie smirks. “Sure you did.”

*

“Oh my god, you were serious about the boyfriend,” Jordie exclaims when Jenny and random guy walk into the penthouse. (Paul, was it? Is it the same guy that she was talking about the other week? Jordie has questions and Jordie also has zero answers).

Jenny promptly blushes, a deep pink flush that could totally compete with all the blushing Tyler’s been doing today. Jordie is going to stop making fun of everyone, but really, he got left at the altar less than 8 hours ago, he thinks he is allowed to make fun of literally everyone today. He’ll tone it down tomorrow, he promises.

“Jord,” Jenny says and she’s clearly trying to sound threatening here but it has absolutely no effect on Jordie. “Please tell me you’re not the only one here.”

Jordie feels like he should be offended. He is a delight to have as company, what is Jenny even talking about?

“Nah, the lovebirds are all cooped up in Jamie’s room probably doing questionable things to each other. Or maybe, you know, just staring into each other’s eyes, that seems like a thing they would do. A very them thing, actually.”

“Oh my god,” Jenny whispers, seemingly to herself but then she immediately raises her voice. “Jamie, Tyler, come out.”

The door to Jamie’s room opens up only a couple seconds later and Tyler comes out with Marshall in his arms, Jamie following him a bit further behind, totally trying to smooth down his messed up shirt. It’s very clearly not working and Jordie does not want to know what Tyler was doing to Jamie’s clothes to get them into that state.

“I thought we did that earlier today,” Tyler says with a smirk and then he presses a kiss to Marshall’s head like the sappy fool he is. “Oh, we have a guest!”

Both Tyler and Jamie probably spot Paul (Jordie is about 80% sure his name is Paul which is actually a quite good probability knowing Jordie and his shitty memory) almost at the same time and they both grin this slightly evil smile that Jordie is secretly proud of. He raised them well.

They go and sit down on the couch, Jamie immediately pulling Tyler under his arm like he can’t possibly be away from him for more than two seconds. To be fair, Tyler doesn’t look any better as he almost literally melts into Jamie’s touch while petting Marshall who looks very comfortable in Tyler’s lap.

Sickeningly cute, all three of them.

“So everyone, I was planning on introducing you guys to Paul this morning but well, that obviously didn’t go according to plan. But everyone, this is Paul. Paul, everyone,” Jenny says and the only thing that stops Jordie from immediately making fun of her some way or another is the fact that Jenny honest-to-God looks like she’s anxious about this introduction. Jordie is not an asshole – never on purpose, at least.

“Hey guys,” Paul says, and his voice is a little deeper than what Jordie would have expected. He’s quite tall as well, almost the same height Jordie is, and when they come closer to sit down, Jordie sees that he’s also rather built – built in a way that suggests that he’s no stranger to working out or playing some sports. Knowing Jenny, though, it will be something weird like curling. (Not that Jordie is judging. Curling is certainly a very… interesting sport.)

“My middle name is also Paul,” Tyler chimes in a propos of nothing.

“Really?” Jamie asks.

“Why, what is your middle name? Is it something posh like William? Edward? Charles? Louis?”

Jamie blushes. “It’s Randolph.”

Tyler is very clearly holding back his laugh. “That’s… a very nice name, Jamie.”

“You can laugh, I know it sounds funny,” Jamie says with a sigh and yeah, Tyler is very clearly laughing now.

“I’m not laughing at you, you know. I was just not expecting that,” Tyler says like he absolutely needs to make sure that Jamie couldn’t possibly think that Tyler might be laughing at him.

“I know,” Jamie says and he presses a kiss on his forehead and… haven’t they been only together for like half a day? How are they already at the kiss-on-forehead old married couple stage?

“Guys,” Jenny says pointedly and now they’re finally paying attention. Jesus, Jordie knows they’re in the honeymoon period (and they’ll probably be in that for a long time, Jordie is going to have to strangle them at one point or another) but their non-existent attention span is already ridiculous.

“So that’s Jordie, my brother whose wedding we were supposed to have today, and that’s Jamie, who crashed the wedding, and that’s Tyler, who well, I guess he’s Jamie’s boyfriend now?”

“Umm, congratulations I guess? Or… not congratulations? I’m not going to lie, I was a little confused by the wedding ceremony. It was really gorgeous, though? Just a bit confusing, too.”

And honestly, Jordie doesn’t know this guy but he’s been here for about two minutes and he’s already making Jamie and Tyler embarrassed so he gets Jordie’s approval.

“Yeah, it’s… a complicated story. Can we just pretend the wedding never happened?” Tyler asks and his every bit the hopeful idiot who knows that what he’s asking for is totally out of the question. This wedding is going down in the books.

“But it would have been such a beautiful wedding,” Jenny grins.

“Especially the peonies, right?” Jamie asks and then Tyler starts laughing for no obvious reason and Jordie is just… how is he supposed to live with those two?

“Anyway, Paul, are you ready for Friday night dinner? It should be a good one,” Jordie says with a smirk but Paul doesn’t seem that bothered.

“Sure? I heard they can be a bit… intense but apparently if I’m not a gay immigrant then it’s not as bad?”

“Oh,” Tyler says and he fakes a pout. “So you’re not hiding something? Not planning on converting to Islam maybe?”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Paul laughs. 

“That’s okay. We should probably leave soon, though, because we’re going to be late. And I’m pretty sure if we’re late on top of everything…” Tyler says but doesn’t finish his sentence. Jordie has a feeling Tyler might be a bit afraid of the oldest Benns.

“Honestly, I feel like even if we’re late, Grandma and Grandpa will be still thrilled about the cancelled wedding. And after all, they did help you out, Tyler. Which I am still not over, by the way – I have never thought I’d see the day when they would be pulling strings for you,” Jenny adds.

“Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t say the problem has ceased to exist, no? Like, I still don’t get why they did what they did but I can hardly believe that they would suddenly start liking me or something. I don’t think their moment of generosity could override their dislike towards me,” Tyler says.

“No, the problem hasn’t ceased to exist. It just moved from one bed to another,” Jordie says with a smirk. He promised he’d tone it down tomorrow – he has to enjoy the hell out of this today.

Tyler’s groan is barely audible among everyone else’s snorts.

“Oh, you guys, I didn’t even tell you about my shouting match with Grandpa the other day,” Jordie says.

Jamie, Jenny and Tyler turn to Jordie as one.

“Your what?”

They are very late to Friday night dinner.

*

**TYLER**

“Oh god, they’re going to hate me,” Tyler says as they’re standing in front of the entrance. He’s holding onto Jamie’s hand and he knows he’s probably gripping it way too hard but he can’t stop himself. “It’s like meeting the family all over again.”

“You’ve met them before though,” Jamie offers but even his face tells Tyler that he doesn’t actually believe that it would make anything better.

“Well, I have met them. It was just before I left their other grandson at the altar to run away with you? I feel like that’s not going to improve my case with them.”

“I guess the only way is up now? Like, think of this as rock bottom. It can only get better.”

“Jamie, that is the least helpful thing you could tell me.”

Jamie snorts and presses a kiss to his temple. “Sorry,” he murmurs and Tyler guesses he can forgive him. Just this once.

“You guys do realize that we need to ring the bell to get in, right?” Jordie grumbles from behind.

“You didn’t ring the bell?” Tyler looks at Jamie whose blush is even visible in the gray of the sunset. 

“You seemed like you could use some time,” Jamie says and everyone apart from Tyler starts to coo at them.

“Jamie,” Tyler starts with a grin but Jordie doesn’t let him finish.

“We don’t have time for your nonsense sappiness, I’m hungry and I just…” he shouts but then the door opens in front of them.

“Were you guys planning on coming in today?” Grandma Benn asks.

“Grandma? Where’s the maid?” Jenny asks.

“She’s out tonight. We thought it could be nice to have just family here today. Especially as you parents couldn’t make it. We thought it’s be nice to have a more intimate dinner,” Grandma Benn says.

And Tyler is probably the most confused he’s ever felt in his entire life hearing all that but also, if he’ll never hear the words ‘intimate dinner’ from Grandma Benn’s mouth ever again, it will still be too soon. It sounds like one of Tyler’s worst nightmares.

“Come on in, now. Your grandpa is already making drinks for everyone.”

And with that, she moves to the side to let them in, and if they’re slow to move at first, Tyler thinks it’s justified. He has absolutely zero idea what is happening. Maybe she lost her mind? She is getting kind of old – that’s an actual possibility, right?

“Tyler, Warren and I are thinking about a trip to Europe this summer, and I have some wonderful ideas for that. Would you mind helping with some questions I have? I’m sure you know way more than I do,” she chatters as they file in.

She has definitely lost her mind, there’s no other explanation here.

*

Tyler is not trying to be overdramatic here (he definitely filled his drama quota for today with the whole wedding thing) but he is pretty sure that they have just stepped into an alternate universe.

Because Grandma Benn – and there’s no other way to put this – is actually _nice_ to him. And Grandpa Benn is sort of just ignoring him, but in a non-threatening, not passive aggressive, almost nice way? Tyler doesn’t know how to explain it, all he knows is that he – and he can’t believe he’s actually saying this – feels welcome in their house?

Tyler is so shocked, it takes him until dessert is served (by Grandma Benn still, because she was really not kidding about the maid no being there) to fully accept that she isn’t being sarcastic with her nice words but that she is actually, on purpose, nice to him. 

“What the hell is going on, Jamie?” Tyler whispers to Jamie once they’ve even finished dessert and have relocated back to the sitting room for a final drink. Grandma Benn just asked Tyler what his favorite dessert was so (and Tyler is directly quoting her here) she could make sure they’ll have it for next week because she’s sure it’s something wonderful that they should all try.

“Honestly? My money is on drugs at the moment. Jordie’s bet is on premature dementia brought on by the shock of the wedding and now they just forgot that they used to be heartless or something. And to be fair, I kind of see his point.”

To be fair, Tyler also kind of sees his point (or both of their points honestly) but he also feels that there is a slightly more complex explanation for all this.

Turns out, for once in his life, he is actually right. It’s Grandma Benn who brings it up.

“Before you go, we also wanted to talk about something with all of you. I hope you don’t mind, Paul, if we bring up a bit of family matter. We would never intend to make you uncomfortable,” she says and it looks like she’s the one who’s actually uncomfortable.

“If you would rather have me somewhere else for this conversation, I can…” Paul says immediately, the nice Canadian boy he is.

“No, no, feel free to say. If you’d like,” she says and Paul does. Her smile makes Tyler think that Paul passed a test he probably didn’t even know he was taking.

“The last couple of days have brought a lot of changes to our family and, as all of you probably know, your grandfather and I were not particularly happy about some of these – let’s say – intended adjustments.”

Understatement of the year, but go on.

“And what we wanted you all to know was that… we were wrong.”

What the actual fuck.

“You were wrong?” Jordie asks aloud, but his voice is just as shocked as his face looks. As all of their face look.

“We were wrong in judging you, Tyler, so quickly. We hold some… prejudices – as you might have noticed – that we are trying to work through at the moment now that our grandchildren have raised the issue with us. You must understand how important family is to us, and we were only trying to act in their best interest…”

Jordie snorts but his Grandma continues without reacting to that.

“… even if they might not agree with that. But now that we see how much you mean to Jamie and the others, too, we realize that we should have trusted their judgement on you. They tend to be smarter in some regards than we are.”

Tyler would like to ask, once again, someone to please tell him what the actual fuck is going on here.

But Grandma Benn doesn’t even seem like she’s waiting for an answer or any sort of acknowledgement from him that he understood her words, because than she immediately moves on to the others.

“My beautiful grandchildren. I also want to say sorry to you. I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye on issues but I never actually…” she says but then her voice actually breaks and she seems like she’s getting emotional over this and Tyler sees the matching confusion, utter confusion on Jenny, Jamie and Jordie’s face.

He doesn’t think any of them ever experienced something like this. Jenny almost seems like she is about make a move towards their grandma, to maybe try to comfort her or something? Tyler doesn’t know and Jenny also stops her abrupt movement, hand awkwardly frozen midair, clearly not used doing anything remotely like this.

And then Grandpa Benn joins in.

“What your grandmother is trying to say is that over the past couple of days, we realized, or rather it was brought to our attention, that there might have been things in the past that we did or said that have upset you – and we are sorry for that. We hope all of you know just how proud we are of you and that we do love you, no matter what you might think. Even if sometimes we are a bit harsh, even if we don’t understand you, at first, we could never not love you.”

And Tyler doesn’t know when he took Jamie’s hand in his but now Jamie is holding on to him like his life depends on it. Tyler starts to draw little circles into the skin on his wrist, trying to soothe him but Jamie, as well as his siblings, has his eyes completely stuck on their grandparents and barely even reacts to it.

“I… we do love you guys, you know?” Jenny says finally, and her voice is thick with confusion. “And we’re also sorry if we said something that…”

“No,” her grandma waves her off. “No need to apologize. Every single thing you said was to protect each other and we were too blind to see that. Family is the most important thing you can have on this Earth, and you all probably understand that better than we thought we did. And that goes for the people you choose to invite into this family. You were never afraid to stand up for each other, even if it meant standing up to us, and we can see now how that is actually, in a very roundabout way, exactly what we wanted to teach you.”

“I…” Jordie starts to say but he still seems too shell shocked to really gather his thoughts together. “That sound really great Grandma, and Grandpa, too, but… why now? It’s not a new thing. This has been like this ever since I can remember.”

“Believe it or not, Jordan, apart from a couple of you hotheaded outbursts that I most often contributed to your youth, we never actually thought that you, all of you, would have such… negative outlooks on us. Well, not until both you and Jamie have decided to tell us what you really thought about us.”

“But…”

“And while we know that’s no excuse, we hope you can still find it in your heart to forgive us. I don’t want to think about a scenario where you wouldn’t want to come to have dinner here every week. Where you wouldn’t want to share your life with us.”

“I…”

“And Jamie,” Grandma Benn continues without stopping. “We are also sorry for our comments regarding this whole… your preferences.”

“We wanted you to have a good life, you know, son?” Grandpa Benn adds and Tyler is pretty sure that Jamie is about to break his fingers, he’s holding onto them so tightly. “And your choices didn’t seem like they would lead to a good life. To a happy life.”

“It’s not a choice, though,” Jamie says but his words sound choked out.

“Your preferences then, as you Grandma said. Your… orientation. But if this is what makes you happy, if this is truly how you want to live your life, then we’ll stand by you.”

“It is,” Jamie nods after a couple of seconds of silence, and his grandparents still don’t seem really satisfied with his answer but they do give him a little nod. That’s probably more support than they have ever shown.

“And that of course goes to you too, Jordan, if you…” Grandma Benn says without finishing her sentence, just twirling her hand around gesturing something Tyler doesn’t get. Is that supposed to be a sign for being a raging homosexual in Grandma Benn’s vocabulary?

“Oh god, no. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with… you know what I mean. I appreciate it but I’m not actually gay.”

“Well, that doesn’t actually surprise me. Also, someone has to carry on the Benn name and we’re seemingly running out of options,” she says and she almost seems like she’s joking? Or half-joking? There’s at least a sliver of humor in her words and that’s the hill Tyler’s going to die on.

And Tyler doesn’t mean to laugh at that but it also sounds so surreal – the whole thing feels so surreal – that he can’t stop himself for letting out a little snort. But Grandma Benn, upon hearing his laugh, just looks at him with this secret little smile (not even really a smile, just a slight upturn of her lips in the corner of her mouth) and Tyler is totally convinced that she’s also laughing on the inside. She has to be.

“Anyway, anything else you’d like to add?” Grandma Benn asks almost cheerfully.

When no one answers her – and really, Tyler doesn’t fault them, what do you even say to all this? –, Jenny takes it upon herself to act as their spokesperson. “We appreciate you saying all this? It’s a lot to process but we are certainly very, umm, happy to hear all that?”

It says a lot about the situation that Jenny, who is always so composed, can hardly find her words.

“Wonderful. Then let me tell you about Mr. Rodrick and his son, you know, Mr. Rodrick, Jenny, you went to school with his cousin’s daughter. What do you mean you don’t remember her? Anyway, I heard it from Jessica Robertson that Mr. Rodrick and…”

And Tyler lets the nonsense chatter wash over him because he still feels like his world was completely turned upside down – and oh god, what must the others feel now if he feels like this after a month of knowing these people?

Jamie seems like he is, very much, only there in his body. He’s been staring at the carpet ever since his grandpa addressed him specifically, his face guarded and blank, not showing any sort of emotions. Tyler has a feeling he is not thinking about the carpet, though.

“You okay?” Tyler nudges his knee to his which finally makes Jamie look up.

“I’ll… I guess?” he says but he looks like his mind is still far away from them.

“Talk about it when we get home?” Tyler whispers back and Jamie nods. 

He keeps his knee firmly pressed to Tyler’s right up until they leave.

*

**JORDIE**

“Okay, if no one else is willing to say it, I’ll do it. What the actual fuck?” Jordie exclaims once they’re finally piled into his SUV. They took only one car, and it’s a bit of a struggle to fit everyone’s limbs on the backseat, but they manage – and they all need to gossip like the old ladies they are, so there’s no way they’re splitting up after the dinner they’ve just had.

“Are we sure we didn’t all dream this?” Tyler asks, and he’s probably kidding but in this very moment, Jordie is not even sure about that.

“Do you guys think it was all an act? I mean, I want to believe them but… Also, how? And what and why?” Jenny asks.

“They did seem genuine to me,” Paul chimes in. “I obviously don’t know them but your grandma almost started crying.”

“But that’s the thing!” Jenny exclaims suddenly and the abrupt raise in her voice almost startles Jordie as he’s waiting to take a left turn. “Grandma never cries. Never. Which might be an argument in favor of the whole ‘was it all an act?’ but if it was an act… she’s a better actress than that, even she would know that we wouldn’t believe that she could actually be crying over… and honestly crying over what exactly? That you guys blew up at them?”

“To be fair,” Jamie starts, much quieter than Jenny, “both Jordie and I kind of, sort of, told them that we had enough and we would all just… leave them if they didn’t change? Which – now that I think about it – kind of sounds like an ultimatum?”

“An ultimatum to stop being assholes or we’d leave?”

“I guess?”

“What if,” Tyler adds, sounding almost a little self-conscious when everyone else falls silent to listen to him, “they actually got scared that they would lose you guys? They always go on about family and all and I guess… you are the first-line Benn heirs or whatever, I don’t think they would want to jeopardize that. And maybe you know, Jordie’s willingness to do this stupid wedding that so clearly goes against everything they stand for, was an indicator that you guys would be actually ready to do this – and your words are not just empty threats or something?”

And it’s not that his words are so unbelievable or harsh or anything, but the car is still eerily silent after he’s finished with his monologue.

“I mean I don’t want to psychoanalyze them or anything and I also know this might be a slightly unpopular opinion but we all know that they do care about you guys. In their own weird, slightly twisted way, but they do,” Tyler adds.

“I don’t know about that one, chief,” Jordie says jokingly, but he’s not entirely sure that Tyler is actually that far from the truth.

He’s maybe a little too close to it, actually.

“I don’t mean to, umm, intrude I guess, because I barely know your grandparents, but I agree with Tyler on this,” Paul says and now, Jordie is definitely intrigued.

“What? Why?” Jenny asks and she turns around to look at Paul with confused eyes.

“Why would they insist on all these Friday night dinners if they wouldn’t care? I’m sure they could be spending their time doing a bunch of really cool things – they do have the money to afford doing basically anything they want, right? – and still, they don’t ever give up on these dinners. They want to see you guys and they want to spend time with you, even if sometimes it might feel like you speak a different language.”

And that is a whole lot of things to unpack. A whole lot of things that Jordie doesn’t even know how to approach – he definitely has no idea how to makes sense of any of them.

“Can we talk about this tomorrow?” Jamie asks suddenly and Jordie sees that Jenny and Tyler’s head immediately whips around to look at him. 

“We never talk about this, though,” Jenny says. “We just all ignore it and I think that’s part of the problem.”

Jamie sighs. “I know but… I also feel like the problem between us and them has become this big because we care so much about their opinion – at least I do – and I just… I’m glad that they apologized and I’ll be super happy if they can move forward, don’t get me wrong, but I also – I don’t think I really care if it was all an act, either. I think I’m done fretting about their opinion because I have everything I care about here and it’s very definitely not them. So can we just, I don’t know, enjoy this? I’m over them – I’m over this whole thing.”

And hearing that, after all these years, man… pride can’t even begin to describe what Jordie’s feeling at that moment. Their grandparents’ apology was a great thing to hear, sure but hearing Jamie say that he doesn’t care about their opinion anymore while smiling and holding his boyfriend’s hand? That’s the best thing Jordie could have ever asked for and he’s not even exaggerating it that much.

“Sure, Jamie. Let’s talk about something else,” Jenny says and she also has a secret smile on her face that Jordie is pretty sure is mirrored on his own. “Oh, I saw a recipe today for this amazing cheesecake and…”

“Absolutely no, you know you’re not allowed in the kitchen,” Jordie says.

“Why is she not allowed in there?” Paul latches onto the topic immediately and Jenny smacks Jordie on the head.

“No reason. It was a small misunderstanding,” Jenny says before Jordie could answer him.

“Yeah, a small misunderstanding with the fire department,” he snorts.

“Jordan, for fuck’s sake! It was not that serious!”

“You’re still not going to use the kitchen, Jenny. I like the penthouse, I don’t want you to burn it down.”

“It’s a cheesecake, how do you think I could burn down the house with a cheesecake, Jordan? I don’t even need to turn the oven on.”

“Oh, I know you. You’ll find a way.”

Jenny sighs. It’s a very expressive sigh.

Paul is clearly having a great time listening to their fight but when Jordie looks in the rearview mirror, he also spots Jamie smiling at Tyler with this dopey smile that Jordie is starting think is only reserved for Tyler. They’re having their own conversation, their voice hushed and barely audible, and they probably could care less about anything that’s going on around them. 

They look happy, though – really, really happy and that’s all Jordie needs to know.

They’re driving through downtown Vancouver, with the windows down as the wind blows by, surrounded by all the buildings and sights and all the sounds and lights that Jordie grew up adoring, and he feels so many things suddenly – so many things that he can’t really comprehend but also itches to put down on paper immediately.

But one thing is crystal clear in both his head and his heart: he’s glad to be home.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that got a bit long. Oops? I hope you guys still enjoyed this.
> 
> The epilogue is going to come a bit later as I've said yesterday, and I'll do a proper thank you round at the end of that - but this story does come to an end here, so I feel like that fact, in itself, deserves some sort of acknowledgment. I never could have reached this point without so many of you cheering on these idiots: so thank you for reading, especially thank you for commenting, and thank you for loving these idiots just as much as I do.
> 
> <3


	18. EPILOGUE

_3 years later_

**JENNY**

“I’m having serious déjà vu here, I’m not going to lie,” Jenny laughs as she leans up to fix Tyler’s bowtie. Tyler didn’t do a bad job per se but it’s still just crooked enough for Jenny to want to re-tie it until it’s perfect. She’s not a perfectionist, of course, she has no idea what you’re talking about.

“I know,” Tyler laughs and he’s flushed high up on his cheek, like he got embarrassed by just thinking about the memories. “I’ve already had about twenty-five flashbacks today.”

The bowtie is perfectly straight finally and Jenny mentally pats herself on the back.

“There are a couple things that are a bit different, though, you know,” Tyler adds as he goes to check himself out in the mirror. He touches his bowtie and Jenny has a slight urge to slap his hands away.

“Like my beautiful nephew,” he grins as he turns back and winks at Jenny’s bump that’s barely visible under her navy dress.

Jenny rolls her eyes. “I know you don’t know whether it’s a boy or girl and you’re only saying it because you want to trick me into telling you, so let’s just pretend I didn’t hear your comment.”

“You’re no fun,” Tyler says but then he starts fixing his hair again, for probably the 30th time since he’s started getting ready, so this time Jenny actually moves and slaps his hands away.

“Stop fidgeting. Are you really this nervous?”

“I’m not nervous,” Tyler says immediately. He sounds like someone who’s very definitely nervous.

“Is it cold feet? Are you doubting yourself? Because if you leave both of my brothers at the altar, we might need to have a conversation about your life choices.”

Tyler groans. “You would think that this joke would get old after 3 years.”

“It’s still the best joke ever and you would totally agree if it wasn’t at your expense. But don’t try to change the subject: you’re not doubting yourself, right? Or your decision?”

“No, of course not. I love him, I’ve loved him for so long that’s… I know that’s not going to change. And I really, really want to call him my husband – it’s ridiculous how much I want that.”

Jenny crooks an eyebrow at him. “So what’s it then?”

“I honestly don’t know. Maybe I have like wedding PTSD?” 

“Yeah, but this is, like, a very different situation from the previous one.”

“I know that. The rational part of my brain gets that but I’m just… Okay, promise me you’re not going to laugh at me.”

“Sure, pinky promise, will not laugh,” Jenny says but she’s already smiling.

“You totally will, right? Uh, whatever, feel free, I don’t even care. It’s just… what if he doesn’t show up?”

Okay, Jenny is not prepared for that at all.

“You mean, you’re afraid Jamie is not going to show up?” she asks and she’s honestly so shocked, she doesn’t even laugh. “The Jamie who is stupidly in love with you? The one that crashed your previous wedding? The one who basically proposed to you after a year of dating you and had to be convinced to please wait until he at least finishes his undergrad before he marries you? The one that….”

“Okay, okay,” Tyler interrupts her. “I get your point. It’s just… Okay, I’m being stupid.”

“You are,” Jenny confirms and Tyler gives her a very pointed look. “But I guess that’s allowed today. But seriously, if there’s something that is a sure thing – seriously, the surest thing ever – is that Jamie is coming today and he’ll be waiting for you at the end on the aisle. Him not showing up is, no, Tyler that’s not something you’d ever need to worry about.”

Tyler still doesn’t look convinced.

Jenny sighs.

“Do you want me to go and check if he’s here?”

“Or I could go and see him for myself,” Tyler says with a hopeful expression on his face and wait a second, was that his plan all along?

“Was this your plan all along?” Jenny asks and she can feel her eyes narrow into a thin line.

Tyler looks at her with innocent eyes. Maybe, a little too innocent eyes.

“No?”

“You got to be kidding me.”

“Please?” Tyler asks and he’s doing the annoying puppy eyes that always make Jamie cave in but it’s not going to work on Jenny. She’s stronger than all of them.

“No. You guys are not supposed to see each other before the ceremony.”

“But it’s such a stupid rule. It’s not like it changes anything. I even know how his suit looks like, that’s not going to be a surprise. I helped him choose it.”

“You guys are seriously co-dependent.”

“So you’ll let me see him?”

Jenny pretends to think for a couple seconds. “Okay, let’s go.”

Tyler’s face lights up. “Really?”

“Oh my god, no, I’m going to lock you in until the wedding march starts.”

Tyler’s groan is the funniest thing Jenny’s heard today.

*

**JAMIE**

“If you don’t stop fidgeting, I swear to God, I’m going to strangle you. I don’t care that it’s your wedding day,” Jordie groans and Jamie freezes like a deer caught in the headlights. 

He wasn’t even fidgeting that much.

“You have the rings, right?” Jamie asks as Jordie occupies himself with poking at the roses decorating the altar.

Jordie rolls his eyes very visibly. Which is not an answer, Jordan, just FYI.

“I have one on my own finger,” Jordie adds with a grin and he shows up his middle finger to Jamie. He and Tyler thought it would be absolutely hilarious to keep wearing their fake rings (on their middle fingers, of course, because they have the same sense of humor that 12-year-olds have), and they are still keeping up with that 3 years after their “engagement”. 

One of these idiots is Jamie’s own flesh and blood and the other is the one he’s about to get married to, and Jamie does not want to think about what that says about him as a person. 

“You know, I could even give you my own ring, now that I’m thinking about it,” Jordie says. “We have the same freaking initials, too, JB.”

Jamie thinks that murdering his own best man about three minutes before his wedding starts is probably considered to be rude but he might just have to take his chances on it.

“I still don’t understand how your girlfriend puts up with you,” Jamie shoots back because he’s way too nervous to come up with a better come-back.

“She didn’t even flip out when she found out – from Jenny, of all people, not even from me – that I used to be engaged to my own brother’s fiancé.”

“Not even about the fact that you’re still wearing your wedding rings? And your engagement rings?”

“No. She’s cool, not like Tyler’s girlfriend apparently,” Jordie murmurs and Jamie smacks him on the side of his head. He stops when he spots his own mother giving him a disappointed look from the front row.

Jordie just laughs. The asshole.

“You’re just jealous,” Jordie adds with a smirk. “It’s okay baby bro, the love between your precious Ty and I – hey, that rhymes – is purely platonic. The bond of brothers, of warriors who fight side by side, the affection between…”

“Oh my god, is it too late to get a new best man?” Jamie groans. The officiant is already setting up to start the ceremony and he can see some movement from the house and he’s probably like a minute away from getting married but Jordie never stops being Jordie. Of fucking course.

“You wouldn’t change me for the world,” Jordie says with a shit-eating grin as he takes up his place by Jamie’s side.

And Jamie is about to say something, something light and chirpy but then he takes one look at Jordie and – no, he would never change him for the world.

“No. I wouldn’t here be without you,” he says simply.

Jordie grins. “I love you, too, bro. And guess what?” he says as the wedding march finally starts and the guests slowly start getting up.

Jamie can already see two tiny figures slowly walking towards them but he has to hear this one last thing before he turns around because he knows himself – once he can look at Tyler, he’s not going to look anywhere else.

“What?” he asks Jordie, and Jordie pulls him in for one last hug.

“You’re getting married now,” he whispers into his ears.

And then Jamie pulls away and he finally turns around and when he spots Tyler, grinning this impossibly happy smile, his curls framing his face like an angelic halo, Jamie smiles because Jordie was right as usual.

He’s getting married. He’s getting married to this man he has already spent years loving, and who has spent years loving Jamie back.

Tyler finally gets to his place next to him, and when he holds out his hand towards him, his smile is almost shy.

“You think you’ll get to the vows this time?” Jamie whispers as the guests settle down behind them. 

“That usually depends on you and your timing,” Tyler whispers back.

Jamie squeezes his hand as they step in front of the officiant. “I guess I’ll have to let you get married this time.”

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap.
> 
> First and foremost: Thank you so much for reading. I usually write for cathartic reasons but I'm not going to be a hypocrite and say that I could do this without people reading it - so really, if you ever took the time to leave a comment, or a kudo, or even just clicked on this story and read a couple sentences, please know it means the world to me.
> 
> I hope this story helped cheer you up in these anxious and lonely times - that was always my main intention. We can always use a bit of feel-good, nonsense happiness but especially so in today's world. 
> 
> And a - hopefully - good piece of news for the future, especially for those who liked _rumors_ : I'm already planning my next story and after this little pitstop in cisland, I'll be finally going back to having a trans protagonist again. Potentially a new Mitch/Auston story because Auston Matthews will be the death of me. (I might be posting this after I saw his fuckboy-posing-in-the-sunset-half-naked-with-a-football Insta post and I might be affected by that still.)
> 
> Thank you again for reading and sticking around, and I hope to see you very soon. Keep safe.
> 
> \- Alex.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on Tumblr @wewintogetherwelosetogether to enjoy the incoherent mess of hockey, F1 and all things I'm currently hyperfixated on. I'm nice, I swear.
> 
> Comments keep the world running, and I will love each and every one of you until the end of time if you do decide to leave one.


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